


King of Thieves

by theboringdolphin



Series: King of Thieves [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth is the mastermind, Be gay do crimes!, F/F, F/M, Fake Dating, Fake Marriage, M/M, They're All Gay, a romance might happen between Reyna and Annabeth but time will tell!, and because they can, because that perfectly captures percico, conning the world together, drew is a main character because she deserves more than being a mean girl, grover is the hacker who loves nature, he’s also the jokester, idiots to lovers, leo is the explosives expert and the bomb diggity, one person at a time, percy loves Nico but is too oblivious to see Nico loves him, please that's literally so perfect, reyna is of course awesome as hell and badass, she’s so great and sweet and totally in love with drew, thank you Zee!, the gilded lotus steal for fun, there’s an oc let me know what you think of her, they're all thieves, what could go wrong?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:55:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 51,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25116487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theboringdolphin/pseuds/theboringdolphin
Summary: The Gilded Lotus are the world's most infamous band of thieves known for pulling off the impossible and stealing only the rarest of the rare. Now their sights have been set on stealing Nico!Percy's the suave con man who lies as easily as breathing. When he asks Nico to play the part of his husband in a fake marriage scheme, will Nico play along or be left reeling from all the pretty lies Percy tells?
Relationships: Drew Tanaka/Original Character(s), Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Series: King of Thieves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819276
Comments: 28
Kudos: 76





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy my little story. I just want to start off by saying that this idea is not original, I actually got the idea from a game on an app called Lovestruck. That game has a bunch of stories where a player can play as the Main Character (usually a female MC) and gets to romance several leads with different routes. It's actually pretty fun because every single MC has a different personality and different quirks, and they all look different.
> 
> This idea came from the story Queen of Thieves, lolll the name was perfect already so I decided to just change one word. Now, although the idea isn't original I'm going to make this story more my own while keeping close to the original source. I love QoT so much, it's my favorite story to play on the app and I wanted to make the story come to life but using the PJO characters. One thing to note, the prologue is completely like the QoT prologue but after that I'll put my own spin!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO or QoT

It was his last day in New York.

Normally, Nico wasn't one to give up, but he couldn't help the feeling of defeat slowly settling in the pit of his stomach.

He gets up for what feels like the millionth time to fuss over his display table. No one's bought any of his paintings yet, but the day is still young. Finding work as an artist was hard. Commissions could only get him so far, and even then, the ones he did manage to get were very few and far in between. He knew it was going to be difficult breaking into the art world, but this was proving to be a lot tougher than anticipated.

 _Come on Big Break! I need you now!_ Nico thinks to himself, miserably, huffing as he sat back in his chair.

Otherwise, he'd have to go back to Nowhere, California, get a "real" job, and listen to everyone say "I told you so". His father was in business, running his own company while his stepmother ran her flower shop business, starting with just one shop over ten years ago before it boomed in popularity. Neither of them was ecstatic to find out that Nico was going to forgo majoring in business and instead go for art. They weren't as supportive, with his father thinking Nico wouldn't make it. He wanted Nico to have a stable, secure job, but Nico wanted to follow his dreams!

 _I've worked too hard to give up!_ Nico grumbled, frowning slightly.

Too preoccupied in his thoughts, it isn't until he feels something brushing against his ankle that he seems to snap out of his stupor.

"Hm?"

He looks down to see a cat weaving between his legs. If Nico were to assume the breed, it looks to be a Russian Blue, with a torn ear and dignified streaks of gray. There's a blue collar attached to the cat, with a golden insignia. He tries to get a good look at the collar, maybe the cat was lost and Nico could find her owner, but the cat was being very elusive.

"Where did you come from, little lady?" Nico asks the cat, reaching out a hand to pet her.

The cat slinks away, just barely out of his reach, with her tail high, glancing imperiously over her shoulder. She takes a sniff right as Nico retracts his hand, smiling down at her.

 _Wouldn't it be nice if she belonged to a famous art critic, about to cross my path?_ Nico thinks to himself, sighing as he continues to watch the cat slink back and forth between the table legs. _Or a gorgeous millionaire who'll buy all my pieces because they speak to his soul? Or a gallant prince from a foreign country, who'll discover me today and want to be my patron?_

Nico sinks further into his daydream. _We'll be rich, and travel the world...and then they'll fall in love with me! Why limit a good daydream, right?_

He glances up once a shadow falls across his table, effectively cutting off his train of thought. The woman who approached is stunning, with blonde, artfully tousled hair, cascading down in ringlets and sharp gray eyes. Nico almost falls back into another fantasy about the Gilded Lotus, the guild of world-famous thieves.

The news kept calling their leader the "Thief Queen" when Nico had tuned in yesterday. He thought the name was cheesy, but when Nico imagined who might fit it, it was totally someone like _this_ woman.

She was dressed like she was off to the opera, he observed, scanning Nico's table with a regal, disinterested gaze. Wearing an informal tuxedo, dressed in black with a white button up shirt, the first three buttons left undone, and a golden insignia pinned to her left lapel.

"Hello!" Nico greets, a little cheerful for his taste, and usually he isn't, but this was his first customer of the day. He dismisses the rest of the daydream, _maybe she can be Annabeth-something-or-the-other, Thief Queen, in my head...but she could be a paying customer in real life!_ "See anything you like? If you have any questions, you can let me know."

Her gray eyes glance up at Nico minutely, before looking back down, "oh, this already tells me everything." Her voice drips with a hint of an accent Nico can't place, maybe Russian? She gestures to his table with a flick of her wrist, flashing the shape of a black, high-end glove, the fabric stopping just before it reaches her wrist.

"You're a recent art school graduate," she continues, her gray eyes sharp and calculating as she eyes Nico's table. "These oil paintings- - early works? There's a hesitation in your brushstrokes. I can only surmise your family disapproved, but look how you've flourished. You'd be quite prodigious if you didn't lack focus."

Nico flinches, taken aback by how forward she is, "focus? Excuse me?"

"You're a jack of all trades and master of none, if you'll pardon an abysmal cliche," she states, looking Nico in the eyes.

Nico feels himself frowning, annoyance flaring up, _at least I'm not the one who showed up to the park looking like a heist movie antagonist. Isn't it a little early for a tuxedo?_

Her eyes sweep over the assortment on Nico's table again: paintings, sculptures, needlework.

"You're the sort of person who can't settle on any one thing," she smirks, noticing Nico's frown getting deeper, "and with the softness to all your lines, and bold use of color-!"

"It's called impressionist influence!" Nico interrupts, his teeth grinding with every word spoken.

"You're an idealist. A _romantic_." She says, her nose scrunching up in distaste. Her lip curls as she moves to touch a watercolor and then decides against it.

"You don't have to say that like it's a bad thing," Nico mutters, looking away, scuffing his shoe in the ground.

And then, she's moving on, purposefully, as though she's looking for something specific.

"These works here, with the bold black lines..." she says, looking over the paintings with interest, the gleam in her eyes growing. "Not copies, per se, but a skillful homage to Tullio Crali, if I'm not mistaken."

The way she says it makes it sound as though she's never mistaken, but Nico's too excited to be annoyed by it.

"Yes! Are you familiar with avant-garde Italian art? This piece is part of a study I did recently," Nico begins, his eyes lighting up. His mouth flies off like it usually does when he gets excited about something, "I wanted to try melding my own style with something more connected to my own heritage and-"

But the blonde has already moved on, continuing her thought from earlier.

"Your idealist streak has given you trouble regarding employement, hasn't it?" She poses it as a question, but Nico feels like she already knows the answer to that. "No job so far, fits your idea of what an artist's life should be, and now you'll have to return to a small, boring hometown and admit defeat. Tomorrow, judging by the crowded desperation of your setup."

Nico scoffs, too irked to even care if he loses the blonde as a customer, "uh, hang on lady."

 _Who does she think she is?_ Nico's mind spits out.

"I'm good at what I do," Nico states, crossing his arms as he looks at the blonde straight in the eyes, "there's nothing wrong with holding out for the right opportunity."

That makes her smile, which briefly confuses Nico.

"Perhaps," she says, "may I ask about your art, Mister...?"

 _So she_ doesn't _know everything, huh?_ Nico thinks, triumphantly.

"Just Nico is fine, ask away," Nico uncrosses his arms, no longer as defensive as before.

The blonde starts firing off questions almost faster than he can answer. It's all Nico can do to keep up, but she doesn't ask about his originals; she's totally focused on his replicas. And the whole time, she doesn't even glance at his art. Her eyes are on Nico, analyzing him, like he was in an exhibit all by himself. It all felt very intense.

"I'm satisfied," she says, interrupting him.

Nico can feel his cheeks reddening and he tries to will away his blush as the blonde turns to go.

 _She didn't even want to buy anything,_ he grumbles.

"Aren't you going to take your cat?" Nico asks, making the blonde pause, fixing him with another piercing stare over her shoulder.

"What makes you think she's mine?"

Nico smirks, "well, you know she's female. You just said so, and she's about as snooty as you are."

The blonde's eyes spark with amusement in a way that makes Nico's breath catch. The blonde woman was gorgeous in a very distinguished way, even he could see that. She turns to go without answering. The gray cat sniffs at the plastic tablecloth of Nico's display, and then trots off after her.

_If she wasn't going to buy my art, why was she so interested?_

* * *

Nico's finished packing by the time the sun starts to set.

He had promised an old friend from art school he'd go to her gallery opening tonight.

 _I'm not on the plane home yet!_ He thinks to himself, begrudgingly, making his way out of the park and towards the gallery.

As Nico heads in that direction, the glittering display window of a jewelry store catches his eye. Through the glass, an elegant hand reaches for a necklace...and Nico follows the sight up a slender wrist, arm, neck, and into an impossibly gorgeous face.

Her black hair glistens in the fading light of the sun that filters through the window, it's wavy, with several ringlets coiled at the ends. Her dark brown eyes are like chocolate, and her red lips look utterly perfect. For a moment, the woman and Nico stare at each other. Then she smiles and curls a finger; gesturing Nico inside.

 _Me?_ Nico thinks, dumbfounded, and he glances around the street, but he's the only person nearby.

She laughs through the glass before deliberately mouthing, "yes, you."

Curious, Nico heads in.

The woman waves him over, and this time he can hear her laugh, light and golden. She's dressed in a black dress, with a neckline that dips dangerously low, a golden insignia attached to the end of it. She's wearing a red necklace, dangling near her collarbone, with a matching set of red earrings. A red cape drapes over her body, with black gloves reaching just below her elbows completing the outfit.

"You're not in a hurry, are you?" She asks, her voice has a hint of a Japanese accent, and something about the way she says it, dazes Nico. "I need a second opinion."

_I'll be late if I stay...but for this woman, it feels almost impossible to say no._

"I have a few minutes," Nico mutters, inching closer. "What's the matter?"

The woman gestures at the necklace she's trying on, which absolutely drips pink pearls, and Nico notes a ring in the form of a snake, curling on her left ring finger. "I have an important event tonight. Is this piece too much?"

"It's beautlful," Nico blurts out the compliment before he can think of anything more articulate.

She just sighs and studies another necklace, the one she'd reached for when Nico walked by. It's a simple, white pearl string.

"Will you put this one on, so I can see the difference?" She turns her back to Nico, gathering her glossy, black hair over her shoulder.

 _She asked it like a question, but somehow it feels like an order._ Nico thinks to himself, as his hands work on putting on the necklace.

He can't seem to refuse the woman, even if he tries. The ornate, pink necklace is warm from her skin when Nico takes it off, leaving only the simple one. Noticing the goosebumps rising on her skin from the coolness. She eyes herself in the mirror, arching a perfect, critical eyebrow.

Nico notices almost everything about the woman seems to be perfect. Not one hair out of place, her makeup immaculate, and her voice dripping honey, drawing him in.

"Take it back off," she speaks, glancing at Nico through the mirror.

His fingers undo the clasp before his brain catches up to him. When he's done, she weighs each necklace in her hands. Nico's left reeling, finding it very hard to turn down the dark haired beauty.

"Which should I choose?" She asks, studying Nico, and a part of him feels like he's being tested. "I'm leaning toward the elaborate one."

"They both look good," Nico begins, "but for what it's worth, the fancier one's fake."

"Oh?" She arches an eyebrow, interest piqued, her red lips part slightly.

"Real pearls don't absorb body heat very well," Nico continues, ignoring how flustered he's becoming under her gaze. "If you were just trying necklaces on, one shouldn't feel colder than the other."

"And how did you know that?"

"I'm an artist," Nico says proudly, "sometimes I work with jewelry."

The woman smiles and leans forward, so close she can whisper in his ear. _Oh wow, her perfume smells wonderful,_ the thought passes quickly.

"I'm so glad you got it right," she murmurs. There's something dark and thrilling in her voice that makes Nico break out in goosebumps. It was almost as if the woman could affect Nico in any way she wanted, like she knew exactly what to say or do. And right now, Nico felt rattled under the weight of her gaze.

The spell is broken abruptly when his phone chimes; an automatic calender reminder.

_The gallery showing!_

"Glad to help, but I have...a thing!" Nico says, rushing out of the store, flustered and shooting the woman a smile.

 _She said I got something right...but what?_ Is the last fleeting thought Nico has as he makes his way to the gallery.

* * *

He's still flustered when he gets to the gallery- - so flustered, he knocks into somebody.

"Sorry!" Nico quickly apologizes when he hears a small yelp that sounded strangely like a bleat.

And not just anybody, but a man who might as well have invented the suit. Dressed all in black, with a white button up shirt, clasped all the way and a green bow tie topping it off, a golden insignia on his left lapel, Nico's eyes rake over his form. He's tall and lanky, his dark skin seems to glow under the bright lights of the gallery beautifully, and his dark curls look purposely unruly. He frowns slightly as he adjusts his bow tie.

"Are you okay?" Nico asks.

"Just fine," he bleats once more, his southern accent bleeding through, and frowns at himself.

"Um...are you debuting tonight?" Nico inquires, trying to dispel the nervous energy around them.

The man snorts, "no, I'm just here to look." He sounds cool and confident when he speaks, no longer as agitated as before.

 _An art buyer, then?_ Nico questions before his thoughts are interrupted by the man who invented the suit.

"Not that there's much to look at," he says dryly, "everything here is so simple."

"It's not about how complicated it looks, it's about the commentary it presents," Nico starts, his eyes lighting up whenever he talks about art. "Even a black dot on a white canvas uses space and contrast really carefully. Getting something to feel simple can be the most complicated part!"

"And that super boring vase?" He points behind Nico, where a work of porcelain, spotlit on a white pedestal in the center of the room resides.

"There's a lot going on there," Nico studies the work, "look at the detail in the painting, and experimental use of the glazing. I've seen similar pieces go for five million dollars!"

The man shakes his head, "just because something's expensive, doesn't mean it's good art. Look at this one," he gestures to their left, where a bunch of blank screens are set up. The work is titled "Millennials".

"Oh...a statement on screen addiction..." Nico mutters.

The man frowns, as if personally offended, "yeah, real hot take." Then he smirks, "I can do better."

He pulls out his phone and long, nimble fingers fly over the keyboard. Instantly, the screens start flashing, pulsing soft colors moving in time with the music playing overhead. People touring the gallery stop to watch.

"Did you just hack into that person's art?!" Nico asks, voice pitching slightly.

"No, you're dreaming," the man glances at Nico, and for once he doesn't look flustered or shy. His gaze is calculating, his brown eyes flitting all across Nico's face. "You're obviously an artist. Can I see your phone? Let's put your stuff up here, instead of these blank screens."

 _But I didn't earn a spot in this gallery...what if this is my chance to get noticed, though?_ Nico pulls out his phone instinctually, briefly pausing when he thinks of whether or not this would be fair. The man plucks Nico's phone out of his fingers. After a few expert swipes, Nico's art pops up all over the display.

"What about the original artist?" Nico questions, biting his lip guiltily.

"If they didn't want their spot stolen, they should've come up with a better concept," the man shrugs.

Even with his nerves, Nico's hit with a wave of admiration. _He's so daring!_

"I'm done," the man says, slipping Nico's phone back into his hand and studying his art. The man smiles slightly, "yeah, this is much better than what was there before."

It's not gushing praise, but Nico feels that from him, it's hard-won. He can't stop the smile from breaking out across his face.

"That's amazing! I'm really in a professional gallery!" Nico gushes.

_Side by side with pieces worth millions of dollars...this is way more exciting than the student shows in college!_

"Thank you!" Nico says, turning to look at the man, almost breathless, "you have no idea how much this means to me. I've almost missed my chance to make it with my art, so...if this is the last moment I get, at least it's a good one."

The man smiles, bright and full, his lips parting to show perfectly straight teeth. It's warmer than the lights beating down overhead. As soon as he realizes he's doing it, he bites his lip, embarrassed and the smile goes away.

 _But it's such a pretty smile,_ Nico blushes, _like art all on its own. I wish I could've looked for longer._

Before Nico can think of something to say, the man nods to the vase in the middle of the room.

"What's that guy doing up there? Now _that's_ what I'd call art," he smirks as Nico turns to look in the direction the man pointed.

A man of Latino descent is pouring black sand out of a brocade bag, onto the floor. He circles the vase's pedestal, connecting curves and swirls into some larger pattern.

_Performance art?_

He's also dressed to the nines; a gray, plaid suit with a dark gray vest, a black tie and a golden insignia on his left lapel, and pocket watch to top it off. He glances up with a smile keen enough to cut diamonds.

"This part's interactive!" He says, his voice hinting at an accent, definitely Latino, Nico surmises. "I need an assistant from the audience."

His eyes sweep the crowd, pass over the man in the suit...and land on Nico. There's an electric jolt that shoots through Nico's body as the man's smile widens.

"You! Get over here!" He beckons Nico, "you're an artist too, right?"

 _Whatever he's making, he's clearly having a lot of fun!_ Nico thinks as he makes his way over to the man in gray.

The man pulls out a book of matches and strikes one alive.

"Will you do the honors, querido?"

Nico stares at the flame as a dark, smoky smell rises from the floor.

_Wait...this isn't sand. It's gunpowder!_

"Gunpowder art?" Nico asks, looking at the man's eyes, noticing he's just a head taller than Nico. "I've heard of this, but I've never seen it live!" It's almost like Nico is feeding off of the man's energy, there's something so explosive and fiery about it.

"I can show you plenty of things you've never seen before," he winks.

"You seem pretty confident," Nico smirks, reaching for the match but the man pulls it away.

"Think you can handle a little heat?" The man teases.

"Oh, I can handle it," Nico reassures him.

"I don't know if I'm convinced," the man jokes, still holding the flame just out of Nico's reach.

"You're the one who picked me!" Nico laughs, rolling his eyes, "besides, it's not dangerous, right?"

 _Who'd give him a gallery spot, otherwise,_ Nico thinks to himself.

The man's eyes burn brighter than the flame between his fingers, almost as if he were fire incarnate, "all the fun's in the danger. Isn't that life?"

His energy and grin is so excited, Nico can't help but return it. He takes the match from the man, and throws it at their feet. The gunpowder catches, and fire zips down the carefully drawn lines like they started a fall of dominoes. But a spark catches Nico's eye, and his heart leaps to see the trail veers away from the display.

_Hey, where is that going?! I can't let it set fire to the rest of the gallery!_

Nico begins to run after it, but the artist is faster, turning him around. He throws an arm around Nico's shoulders, jacket stretched over him like a wing. An explosion rocks the room, making Nico's ears ring and sending him stumbling to a knee. The artist keeps shielding Nico as glass rains down from the broken ceiling. Smoke fills the room and is just as quickly whisked away by the roaring blades of a helicopter.

"What's going on?!" Nico shouts. The artist doesn't give him an answer, opting instead to sprint for the vase. Snatching it up, and then jumping onto a ladder rolled out of the helicopter. He throws Nico a casual salute and a wink.

"Thanks for your help!"

And then, the helicopter rises and he's gone.

The gunpowder scatters under the wind, but the scorch marks on the floor remain: in the shape of a flower. And not just any flower, a _lotus._

_This is the symbol of the Gilded Lotus._

"Are you alright?" A voice shakes Nico from his stupor.

A man appears in front of him, while the crowd screams and scrambles. The first thing Nico notices from the man are his vivid green eyes, they look like mini oceans. His blue suit is simple and informal, with his white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his left lapel Nico notes a golden insignia. His hair looks perfectly tousled and unruly, like if he had been standing on the deck of a ship at sea.

"I saw the whole thing," he says, a strange accent Nico can't place, lacing his voice, his face showing concern, "for a second I thought that guy was going to drag you into the helicopter, too." He looks Nico over, with tender eyes and then lifts a hand toward his face, "there's glass in your hair. Here."

Nico's too bewildered to speak, but when he doesn't protest, the man gently brushes it out.

"My name's Percy," he speaks softly.

"Nico," he murmurs it on instinct, trying to process the explosion.

 _Why does his name sound familiar?_ Nico briefly wonders.

"We have to get you out of here," Percy takes Nico's hand, just as gently, and that unfreezes Nico's feet. They hurry through the crowd.

"Wait, where are we going?" Nico asks, panic seizing him.

"I know you're not wrapped up with the Gilded Lotus, but security might act first and ask questions later," Percy explains, holding onto Nico.

_I hadn't even thought of that!_

They make it out into the street, and Nico gulps in a breath of the clear air. He turns to look at Percy, who gave him space to gather his bearings.

"What should I do?" Nico asks, once he knows his voice won't shake.

"Let's get you home," Percy suggests, looking over at Nico, "you're innocent. You don't deserve to be detained to answer a bunch of questions."

The thought sends a chill down Nico's spine. Percy squeezes his hand, before letting go.

 _Oh wow,_ Nico thinks, as he finally gets a good look at him, _is Percy really that handsome, or is this adrenaline talking?_

"Do you have your phone?" Percy asks, shaking Nico from his thoughts. "Let's get you a ride."

Nico fumbles his phone from his back pocket, and struggles to pull his rideshare app up with shaking fingers.

"I can help," Percy offers. When his hand touches Nico's, he lets Percy take his phone away to handle it. "Can you put your address in?"

Nico nods his head, managing that much on his own and grateful for the privacy. His driver - Reyna - pulls onto the street in the listed car.

"Thank you so much, Percy," Nico offers him a weak smile.

"Of course," Percy says with ease, "until we meet again, angel."

_Meet again?_

Something flutters in Nico's stomach at the warmth of Percy's smile. Percy opens the car door for him. When Nico's sitting, Percy leans in close...and suddenly, his sweet smile turns into a knife sharp smirk, making Percy go from an innocent guy to a thrilling bad boy.

"Nico, what's this?" Percy feigns surprise. He reaches into Nico's open bag of art supplies and slowly, slowly draws out a string of pearls.

 _The pearls from the jewelry shop!_ Nico's mind screams. _How did those get in there?!_

"It looks like you're not as innocent as you seem," Percy teases.

Nico's mouth is frozen, the words he wants to say lodged in his throat, _neither are you, apparently!_

"I didn't steal those!" Nico finally says, "I'm not a thief!"

Percy seems to find that very funny.

"I'll hold on to these, you naughty boy," he says, putting the pearls into his suit jacket with a conspiratorial wink. "People already think you're with the Gilded Lotus. It wouldn't be good if somebody found you with stolen goods, on top of that."

 _I knew he was too good to be real!_ Nico thinks indignantly, crossed with himself for falling for Percy's sweet persona.

Before Nico can react, Percy shuts the door, and the car takes off. The road ahead of him blurs as Nico tries to make sense of everything.

"Are you okay?"

Nico glances over at the driver. She's wearing a black suit, with her white button up shirt buttoned all the way to top, a black tie secured in place, Nico can just barely make out a gold pin attached to her left lapel. She has a good eye on the road, but concern is clear on her face. Scars criss-cross across her knuckles, and they continue up her wrist and arms.

 _Daannng, what are those from?_ Nico wonders, this woman looked like she could kick Nico's ass, not be a rideshare driver.

"It's...been a weird day," Nico answers, "at least it hasn't been boring..."

All of sudden, they hear police sirens blaring behind them.

"And it's not over yet, huh?" Reyna mutters.

 _Oh shit!_ Nico thinks, _is this about the Gilded Lotus heist or the planted pearls? Or both?!_ He groans internally, _that Percy guy could've pointed them right at me as a distraction!_

Reyna sighs as red and blue lights flash in the rearview mirror.

"Put your seatbelt on," she tells Nico, "I have a lot of experience outrunning the police."

"What?!" Nico exclaims, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Trust me," and the way she says it makes Nico think he _can_. "You don't want to go to jail," she says, watching as Nico fastens his seatbelt.

As soon as he does, she slams down the gas pedal. They race forward so fast, it presses Nico back into the seat. The lights of the cars in front of them blur past Nico, his heart pounds as Reyna swerves and narrowly avoids a couple cars, switching lanes so fast it gives Nico whiplash.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe," she says, calmly.

She weaves in and out of traffic, jumps on and off the curb, ricochets around a corner. Nico lets out a yell he'd been holding in, and he'll deny until his dying breath as it wasn't exactly...a manly yell. Nico looks over at Reyna, half expecting her to be just like Nico but she's not, she looks calm, as if she's sitting on the beach. A part of him wants to puke, but he's anchored away from that feeling when she puts an arm around his shoulders on another breakneck turn, protecting Nico from hitting the window with the force.

"You know," she begins, still driving like a madman, "you don't really look like a troublemaker." She briefly glances at him, with wry amusement.

"Looks can be deceiving," Nico answers weakly, _apparently I'm a trouble magnet!_

"Funny how it all works," she jokes, and now was definitely not the time for that, seeing as how Nico's heart was ready to leap out of his body.

Without a warning, she stops short, throwing out an arm across Nico's chest. He hits firm, warm muscle instead of smacking his face into the dashboard. _Jesus, th_ _at was close!_

"Haven't had to do this trick in a while," she grunts.

With her free hand, Reyna puts them in reverse and rockets backwards. The police speed by, flying past them. She turns them around and races in the opposite direction.

"Got 'em," she smirks, looking in the rearview mirror before pressing the gas and shooting off into the night.

For a while, all Nico can focus on is his lurching stomach, but then the city lights fade and they come to a gentler stop.

_It's probably too optimistic to expect she brought me home, right?_

Sure enough, when Nico peeks out of the window, they're at an air hangar.

"Let's go," she says getting out of the car and that unfreezes Nico.

Nico's nervous energy, as he slowly climbs out of the car on wobbly feet, is enough for Reyna to look at him and smile reassuringly.

"Don't worry," she says, and without the roar of her car, Nico can note the accent she has around certain words, "nothing is going to happen to you, I promise. No one is going to harm you either."

There's a whipping roar, and then a fierce wind picks up around them. Reyna steps in front of Nico, a head taller than him, to shield him from the brunt of it as a helicopter lands. Not just any helicopter, _the_ helicopter. It touches down and the gunpowder artist leaps out with a whoop. Right behind him is...the art buying hacker? The two of them are laughing together.

"Reyna," the man who invented the suit says, "did you see that landing? It was all computers! Yeah, we don't need you to drive anymore." There's a smug smirk on his face.

"I still beat you here," Reyna raises an eyebrow, smirking when the man's face falls. "You owe me a beer."

"Grover," the artist begins, "you always lose when you bet her."

Grover turns to the artist, "well, you bet _me_ I couldn't land a helicopter with my tablet. So you owe me _two_ drinks, Leo."

Leo only grins, before looking Nico's way, "and I see our amazing assistant made it here in one piece!"

Before Nico can open his mouth, a limousine pulls up. Percy gets out with a winning smile and then opens the door on the other side. He bows over a woman's hand as she takes his hand in hers, and gracefully emerges.

_The lady from the jewelry store!_

"There you are, Drew," Percy smiles at her.

"Thank you, Percy," Drew blows him a kiss as they make their way over to the rest.

Nico's dumbfounded but in his mind the pieces all click together. This whole day has been part of their plan. Part of their _heist_...Nico takes a clear look at their pins, noticing that they all bore the Lotus insignia.

"You really are the Gilded Lotus," Nico murmurs, bringing the attention to himself.

He points at Leo, "you made me help with your heist so you could frame me!" Nico accuses, "and Drew put the pearls in my bag, so that Percy could take them later! And when he helped me call Reyna-!" Nico whirls to Grover, pointing at him, "did you set that up somehow, when you had my phone?!"

"Took you awhile," Grover smiles at Nico, "but you got there alright."

"He hasn't exactly had a spare second to think, Grover," Reyna grunts, putting her right hand in her pocket.

"Yes," Percy begins, "I think we should give him far more credit."

Drew smiles at Nico, eyes glinting, "you've put the pieces together, but you're wrong about our motives," her voice is as silk as honey. "We don't intend for you to take the fall for anything."

Nico's mind spins, and he tries to work through it the same way he'd plan out a tough composition.

"Why get me involved, though?" Nico asks, staring at the ground, "you guys are famous." They've pulled off heists that were supposed to be totally impossible, and made it look easy. "You didn't need _me_ to get to that vase."

Something nudges Nico's ankle, and he looks down to see the gray cat from before. He turns as the blonde woman in the tuxedo approaches.

"Our objective was never to steal the vase," she says, smiling, "we want to steal _you_."

_Me?!_

Everyone looks at Nico; not leering, but curious. They're smiling at him, like as if what they did was normal and all things considered, it was, for them at least. Nico's heart starts beating fast.

 _This group of people, who lead thrilling lives and refuse to play by the rules and live in total luxury..._ Nico's mind races, _they want me?_

"What are you talking about?" Nico asks, looking at the blonde woman, who was obviously the leader.

"I'll explain more in Paris," she says, not giving Nico an answer, "come along." She turns and heads for the plane like she expects them to scurry obediently after.

 _Paris, France?!_ Nico's mind screams, excitement shooting through him, _the city of love?_

Percy takes a step toward Nico, "we want your help on our next heist."

"You're delightfully versatile," Drew all but purrs the last word, moving to walk after the blonde. "Annabeth said your replicas were satisfactory, too."

"Which is as close as she gets to admitting she's impressed," Percy teases, his lips quirking up briefly.

"And you can handle a little action!" Leo boasts, hands in his pockets, winking at Nico.

"Of course, we won't force you to come," Grover says, pulling out his tablet and fiddling with it, "we're thieves, not kidnappers."

Reyna nods, crossing her arms.

_That's right, she said nobody would hurt me._

Percy's smile, disarmingly kind, contrasts with the glitter in his eyes, as he comes slightly closer towards Nico, "but we'd like to...sweeten the deal, somewhat."

Grover shows Nico the screen of his tablet, zoomed in on a picture of his face.

_I'm already caught on camera?!_

"The police are after you, but..." Grover pauses, glancing at Nico, "we did you a favor and erased all evidence of you. So now, if the police catch you, they don't have anything to hold against you."

"You're free to stay now," Drew starts, clasping her hands together, "but you're also free to leave with us, if you so choose."

"So consider this the official job offer of your dreams," Percy smiles at Nico.

"Give me a second!" Nico says, his voice hitching, holding his arms out firmly.

The others respect his space while Nico thinks it through as fast as he can.

_I was caught on camera, but they destroyed the evidence...they're telling me I have a choice. But staying...I'll clear my name for sure, but I'd still have to go back home. Live with my parents and their disappointment. Leave the big, exciting city._

Nico glances up at the others and slowly lowers his hands. This guild had made a full-blown heist to hire Nico...wasn't this what he was waiting for? Excitement? Adventure? To escape an ordinary life? It felt like something out of a story! _I could give all that up...or I could reach out and take what's just ahead._

Nico's heart races as he meets their eyes, knowing that this would seal his fate.

He smiles at them, heart in his throat, "let's go to Paris."


	2. Paris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's another chapter to King of Thieves, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO or QoT

When they land in Paris, the sun has just begun to set. On the flight over to France, Nico had slept a bit, but not before firing off a million questions to anyone who would listen. The leader of the Lotus was none other than Annabeth Caesius, who was also the mastermind behind every single one of their heists. Drew Tanaka was the resident seductress, which answered how she was able to get Nico to do almost anything she wanted. She knew exactly how to play with people's minds, making her a very compelling person. Percy Jackson, who was the one answering almost all of Nico's questions, was the group's con man, which wasn't a shock considering he fooled Nico.

Grover Underwood was their hacker, which didn't surprise Nico because he had hacked into someone's artwork and Nico's phone. Leo Valdez was the group's explosives expert and their build-it, fix-it man. He was good with his hands, but he also couldn't keep still, fiddling with anything that was near him. Currently, he was toying with his pocket watch, opening it and closing it shut, over and over.

He had impish features, Nico noted, wild curly locks framed his face, and his ears were pointy. He had a smirk on that said he got up to a lot of trouble. He was slim, with very little muscle, but that was deceiving, Leo was stronger than he looked. Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano was their driver and bodyguard, her dark brown hair was long, and twisted into a single braid down her back. She was tall, as tall as Leo, and almost reaching Percy's height. Her brown eyes were focused as she flew the plane, barely breaking a sweat even when Leo tried to bother her.

It was actually kind of funny watching Leo try to break her concentration. He tried telling her jokes and scaring her intermittently, but nothing worked. All he had to show for his efforts was a sore arm because every time ended with him getting punched by Reyna. Now that had been fun to watch. The others had also cracked jokes at his expense and Leo complained good-naturedly.

Nico took in the sights and smells of the city of love.

Everything was glowing beautifully under the dying sun. The streets were different than New York, everything felt much narrower, but there was a lot more greenery. Some streets had cobblestone paths, while others were more modern. It was a mix of old meets new. The architecture was stunning! Stone buildings as old as the 18th century if Nico were to guess, seemed to be everywhere he looked. He was drinking everything in, his eyes zipping from one building to the next, eyeing every shop they passed. Nico's jetlag was long forgotten as he got acquainted with the city he was going to be staying in for who knew how long.

He felt like he could stay out here forever. Just sketching the city would take up his whole day and it would be nice to have as memories.

Nico was so focused on everything around him, he failed to notice he had a quiet observer walking beside him. Turning to look at his companion, Nico gives a small smile at Percy, with his hands in his pockets as he watches Nico take everything in.

"Do you like it so far?" Percy asks once he notices he has Nico's attention.

"Are you kidding? This is everything I've dreamed about and more!" Nico says, breathlessly. "No, not even in my dreams did I imagine it would be like this. Everything here is so beautiful."

Percy smiles softly, looking around them, "Paris has that effect on people."

Nico sighs, trying to calm down but his excitement still bubbles through, "I just...I never imagined that this would be happening to _me_! I kind of feel like someone should pinch me in case this is all a dream- _ow_!" The brown-eyed male turns to look to his left, where Leo gives him an impish smile.

"You asked for a pinch," Leo shrugs, pulling out some dice from his pocket and beginning to play with them.

"He didn't ask for you to do _it_ , Leo," Drew rolls her eyes, "excuse him, we're still having him checked out, he seems to lack a brain and impulse control."

"You wound me with your words, Drew," Leo gasps dramatically, clutching at his chest with his free hand.

"You'll have to forgive Drew," Grover begins, tapping away at his phone, not even sparing any of them a glance, "she has a heart condition. She doesn't _have_ one."

"Oooh!" Leo exclaims, high-fiving Grover, "thanks for backing me up, bro!"

"Of course bud!"

"Boys," Drew says, shaking her head, "there's a reason I don't entertain them romantically."

"Hey! We're men!" Grover cries out, still tapping away at his phone but he looks at the dark-haired woman briefly, smiling to let her know he was joking. Nico looks up at the streetlamps where there are cameras and sees them all point away from them as the group passes by.

 _Is this Grover's doing?_ Nico wonders.

"Yeah!" Leo agrees, "I'm a man's man!"

Nico snorts, and Annabeth smirks at the Latino.

"I don't think you're saying what I think you mean," the blonde's face breaks out into a smile as she looks back at the group. She walks in front of them, purposeful, her strides confident.

Leo stops and thinks about his sentence, before groaning out loud, "oh man...I didn't mean it like that!"

"Well, it's a good thing you're bisexual," Reyna quips, bumping Leo's shoulder playfully.

"Well yeah, but now my comeback's less cool," Leo whines.

"Everything you do is uncool," Drew teases.

"Where are we going?" Nico interrupts the banter, still taking in the sights.

"We're going home," Percy answers, smiling at him.

Nico passes by a flower shop and is hit with a panicked thought. What were his parents going to think if they knew where he was?

"Uh," Nico starts, looking at Percy, "question, um, but what should I tell my family now that I'm...well on the lam? Can it be considered that when all the evidence has been erased?"

"Hm, well, you can try to stick as close to the truth as possible, with little white lies here and there," Percy suggests, inching closer to Nico. "I can help you with that."

"Would you?" Nico looks over at Percy hopefully.

"Oh, he'd gladly do it," Leo mutters, and then lets out a yelp as Drew trips him over, "you're evil!" He yells, walking closer to Grover.

"And I'd gladly do that again," Drew teases, smirking at Leo.

Percy rolls his eyes at Leo, turning to look back at Nico, "of course, angel."

Nico feels his cheeks burn at the nickname. _That's twice he's called me that already..._

Noticing the flush on his face, Percy's smile grows wider, almost as if enjoying making Nico squirm but he lets up on the teasing.

Passing by more buildings, shops, and restaurants Annabeth finally comes to a stop in front of an ornate looking door outside a very old but beautiful looking building. It's made entirely out of dark Oakwood, with gold, brass handles. On each side of the door are carvings, starting as semi-circles, with dozens of petal-like carvings surrounding it, turning it in the shape of a sunflower. The french doors open with a flourish, and Annabeth ushers them all inside the building.

If Nico thought the outside was impressive, he had no words for what the inside looked like. He was floored by the beauty of the hotel. From its white walls and columns to the white marble floor tiling, with little black diamonds across it, to the simple but tasteful furniture. There were two chairs placed directly in front of the windows, and opposite the chairs, were cushioned benches. There were paintings hung on the walls, bringing life and color, and tying the whole room together.

He was led inside an elevator by Percy, who merely smiled as Nico rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He was staring at everything so openly and like a tourist, but Nico couldn't help it. Everything was just so amazing, he didn't know what to focus on!

Once they were all in, Grover tapped at his phone, before pressing a button and they all descended up. Nico curled and unfurled his fingers, feeling anxious, excited, and nervous. This was it. He was finally going to get the chance to see where the Lotus all lived. There was very little information out there about them, just that they were known for pulling off impossible heists and stealing whatever they wanted. But no one could say that they had ever stepped foot into their actual living space.

Finally, the doors opened and Nico followed after them down a hallway. The halls had red carpeting, with gold designs in the shape of diamonds. The walls were a soft yellow color, almost golden but not quite. Elaborate red curtains were hanging off of the windows, all drawn closed. The gray cat, who Percy had clarified was named Victoria Eleanor Caesius (even the cat had a name that sounded regal!) meowed, pawing at the door as if happy to finally be home.

"Are you exhausted, Victoria?" Annabeth asks her, "was the trip tiring?" Victoria meows in answer, rubbing herself against Annabeth's legs.

Opening the door, Victoria leaps inside, meowing as if in greeting to the place. She goes about, rubbing herself on the furniture before licking at her paw, almost regally. If Nico didn't know any better, he'd say the cat acted like a little noble lady.

Walking in, Nico is once again floored at everything inside the room. The furniture was all crazy colors and it was mismatched but somehow it worked. There was a zebra printed chair off to the left side, near the fireplace. A red, comfortable-looking loveseat turned against large windows that overlooked the balcony, and on the right was a brown leather armchair. There was a teal victorian era chaise up against the windows from the balcony and there was a wooden coffee table in the middle and on top were scattered jewels. Precious pearl earrings, radiant ruby rings, a sapphire pendant, and an emerald bracelet with a matching necklace.

_How do they have those jewels just lying around?!_

Over the fireplace hung a painting done by Pablo Picasso; Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. A painting of five naked women who were prostitutes outside a brothel on Carrer d'Avinyo, a street in Barcelona. It had been housed in the Museum of Modern Art before it got stolen by the Lotus. Nico had heard about that in the news and left hanging where the painting had been, was a simple lotus painting. Nico smiles at the memory. That had been almost a year ago and now, here he was, seeing it in person and standing with the very people who stole it.

He doesn't know what to think. It all still feels like a dream that he'll wake up from, and when he does, he'll wake up in his parent's house. This kind of stuff just doesn't happen but here he is. Maybe he needs Leo to give him another pinch, just to be sure.

There was a vase standing on one side of the fireplace and flanking the other side, was a statue of an angel with an arrow in his hand, aimed at a woman. Nico recognized that it was the statue made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. That one had been located in the Cornaro Chapel in Rome! The Lotus had taken it two years ago, left in its place had been a sculpture of a lotus.

"No way!" Nico exclaims, walking towards the statue, "I can't believe you guys have this here!"

"Yeah, well, it wasn't easy getting that thing out. Not only was transporting it a bitch, but having to hack away at the bottom painstakingly slow to not damage anything was the literal worst," Leo grumbles, looking over at the statue with disdain.

"But doesn't it look fabulous in our living room?" Drew asks, fiddling with the ends of her hair.

"Yeah, you can say that because you didn't have to do any of the grunt work," Grover mumbles, "all you had to do was sit and look pretty."

"Yes," Drew quickly agrees, "I am very pretty!"

"Pretty annoying," Leo mutters but then yelps in pain, rubbing the spot Reyna had pinched.

"It was an annoying job though," Percy sympathizes, "we all had to come back and hack away each night at the very bottom until we could lift it and transport it. It took a week."

"Drew wasn't there as often but when she was, she would mainly distract us," Grover smirks at Drew.

"I had my work cut out for me too! I was busy conning an insufferable man with some very important family jewels," Drew sighs, pushing her hair over her shoulder.

Leo guffaws, while Grover and Percy snicker and even Nico can't help the laugh that bubbles out of him. Annabeth giggles while Reyna smirks at the dark-haired woman.

"You were after his _family jewels_?" Reyna questions and she can't help the snort that rips out of her.

Drew takes a second to think about what Reyna just said. Confusion all over her face before she glowers at them, "...oh, you all are impossible."

Although Nico laughs along with them, he can't help how his eyes go back to looking at the room. The walls are burgundy, and there are dozens of small paintings, all Nico can easily recognize were stolen from museums, and all of them famous. There are vases here and there and more statues and busts littered across the floor. Nico's eyes flit everywhere, he can't seem to concentrate on any one thing. He could never have imagined the Lotus's home would look like this, then again, he had always wondered what they did with the things they stole. It never appeared on the black markets and there was never any news on any of the stolen goods resurfacing anywhere.

It was all here, every single thing they took was housed in their penthouse.

_But I know they've stolen more...I wonder what they do with the rest?_

"Oh!" Says a surprised voice and Nico turns to look at the person who had just walked out of the kitchen, balancing a plate of sandwiches.

Her headphones are plugged in her ears, and she quickly pauses the music on her phone, taking them out. She has long, black hair that's wavy and bangs that just barely brush against her eyelashes, and dark brown eyes. Her tan skin glowed in the sunlight that shone through the windows, her body curvy, and her full lips part in a smile as she looks at them.

"Hi," she greets, and Victoria quickly rubs herself against her ankles, meowing.

"Did we scare you, little lamb?" Drew murmurs, stepping closer to the girl, making her flush instantly at the nickname. And Nico didn't know if he was imagining this, but it almost seemed as though Drew was looking at her fondly.

"I just... didn't expect you guys to be home so soon," she says.

"So inattentive," Leo starts teasingly, "what if a burglar had broken in? Then you'd be helpless."

Drew glares at Leo, "oh please, as if a burglar could break in, Grover has this place secured, he'd be alerted right away and defensive measures would be put in place," she says dismissively.

"Besides, no one knows the code to get the elevator up to our floor," Grover smirks at Leo, flicking his ear as he goes to sit on the couch. "Which reminds me, I need your phone Nico, so I can mod it."

"What for?" Nico asks, handing over his phone to Grover.

"I need to make sure no one can track us while you're using it, plus there's an app I created that lets you put in the code to get here, which you're going to need if you leave the penthouse."

"Oh, okay," Nico shrugs his shoulders, his eyes still looking over everything. "So wait, you guys have this whole floor to yourselves?"

"Yes," Annabeth answers, going to sit on the zebra print chair, "I felt it was more comfortable that way."

"We each also have our rooms, they're pretty spacious," Percy smiles at him, taking off his jacket, undoing the buttons on his wrist, and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

Nico tried not to think about how good Percy looked doing that, instead opting to look at the girl still blushing around Drew.

"This is Maya Cortez," Annabeth introduces her to Nico, "she works in art conservation and restoration. Which will come hand in hand when you work on your forgeries. Maya," she turns to look at her, "this is Nico di Angelo, a recent art school graduate and the artist we've been waiting for."

"What?" Nico asks, turning to look at the blonde.

"We needed an artist," she explains, a soft smile on her face, "someone as extraordinary as you and your replicas are almost perfect. It's why we chose you. Maya is here to help with the rest, seeing as forgery isn't something you can just pick up. You'll need help working with the right glazing and texture. Maya here is the best of the best in regards to that."

"Oh," Maya gasps, "I'm not-"

"No, no," Annabeth shakes her head, "your skills are superb, be proud of them."

"Nice to meet you, Nico," Maya smiles at him. "I've been working in art conservation and restoration since I was nineteen, apprenticing back then before landing a job in London."

"She worked on the restoration of Charles Le Brun's painting of Everhard Jabach and His Family," Annabeth supplies.

"No way!" Nico's eyes widen, "you worked on that?! Oh god, how was it? I bet it was exciting to see it unfold," Nico begins, firing off before he can think better of it, "I mean it's a 355-year-old painting! Oh! Sorry, nice to meet you too, I just...I get all caught up when I talk about art, it's kinda hard to shut me up..."

"No, I get it!" Maya says, laughing softly, "I'm the same way too! And working on that was...something, ha, it was meticulous work, for sure. We did a lot of retouching, structural work and re-varnishing, it was tough! But it was all worth it to see the outcome."

"Oh, I wish I could have done that!" Nico bemoans.

"Well, now you get to do something better," Percy teases, elbowing Nico in the ribs, "now you get to forge paintings and keep the real thing!"

Nico huffs out a laugh, "okay, that makes up for it," he turns back to Maya, "so you worked in London?"

"Yeah, I had been at my job for about a year before the Lotus whisked me away almost two weeks ago," Maya says with an easy smile. "I haven't looked back since."

"It's been delightful having you around, darling," Drew coos, making Maya blush all over again.

Nico could tell Drew enjoyed flustering Maya, but the adoring look on Drew's face made it clear she liked her a lot.

"You two should start getting to know each other, as you'll be working hand in hand while doing your forgeries," Annabeth suggests.

"Of course!" Maya answers, getting excited, "is there a specific piece you have in mind of stealing?"

"I do," Annabeth replies, "there's a small side job I want you and Nico to do. The painting I want is by Leonardo da Vinci called La Belle Ferronniere, it's at the Louvre currently, so we'll be heading out there as often as possible in between the heist to memorize the painting. In the meantime, Maya you'll continue to work with Drew and Nico," she turns to look at him, "you'll be helping Percy out with this particular heist."

"Oh!" Nico begins, feeling his cheeks growing warm, "of course, anything you need."

"Anything?" Percy asks suggestively, arching an eyebrow at him.

Nico flushes red, "uh..."

"Percy," Drew chides, "stop torturing the poor soul."

"You're one to talk," Percy mutters, frowning slightly.

"I do no such thing," Drew sighs, looking away. "Let's hope to God Percy trains you well, he gets carried away quickly," she utters, looking Nico's way and ignores Percy's indignant cry. "Maya has already learned to pickpocket and pick locks," she states proudly. "You're like a sponge, darling," she turns to Maya, "soaking everything up and learning so fast!"

Maya blushes profusely, "I'm just quick on my feet is all!"

"Nonsense little lamb," Drew murmurs, "you're just that amazing."

"Te tiene azotada," Leo mutters under his breath, only to be smacked upside the head by Drew.

"Se te olvida que entiendo español, idiota," Drew glares at him.

"Wow, I didn't know you spoke Spanish, Drew," Nico blurts out.

"I speak many languages," Drew answers, looking over at him. "French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and Mandarin to name a few."

"Whoa," Nico gapes.

"Although, I don't like to talk anything other than English while we're all together," Drew continues, clasping her hands, "Leo likes to mutter little phrases here and there in his native tongue."

"I'm a Mexican," Leo laughs, "you can take the boy out of Mexico, but you can't take Mexico out of the boy!"

"Well, can we take the boy back _to_ Mexico?" Reyna jokes making everyone crack up, and Leo turns to look at her, betrayed.

"Reyna? _Reyna_! You did me dirty like this?" Leo gapes at her, shocked.

"You just can't trust people," Percy laments, gripping Leo's shoulder.

"You really can't," Leo sniffles, fake-tearing up.

"Well, I'm done with Leo's theatrics," Annabeth announces, "I'm heading to my room." She gets up, walking out of the living room and down a hall, Victoria right at her feet, meowing at her.

"Yes Victoria, you can rest in peace now that you don't have to hear all of that incessant yapping from Leo."

"Hey!" Leo calls after her, but in response, all he gets is a slammed door.

"Nico," Percy catches his attention, grabbing Nico's elbow between his thumb and index finger, "come on a walk with me?"

* * *

The sun is just over the horizon when they leave the penthouse. There's a slight breeze blowing through, and Nico breathes deeply, basking in the warmth of the ending day. Percy's walking beside him, hands in his pocket and Nico looks over at him. From this side, Nico can admire the way the light hits Percy's face, he looks stunning. His nose is straight, and he has high cheekbones. His lips are full and look soft, perfect. If he didn't know any better, Nico would say he looked like a model.

_Wow, Percy's extremely attractive..._

"What do you think of Paris so far?" Percy asks, breaking the silence between them. "Is it everything you expected?"

_There's that accent again._

"From what I see, yeah," Nico replies, "everything here feels so...I don't know, magical."

"Yes, Paris is truly a magical place," Percy agrees quietly, with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

Nico quirks an eyebrow up but doesn't say anything. "You know, the first time I talked to you, I couldn't place your accent."

"Hm?" Percy hums.

"But now I see you have a French accent," Nico chuckles, "in fact, almost everyone has an accent. Grover, I noticed, has a southern accent."

"Yeah, he does," Percy supplies, "he grew up in America, like you and me. In the southern states."

"You're American?" Nico asks, his eyes widening.

Percy laughs, nodding his head yes, "I am, I was born in New York."

"But then, how come you have sort of a French accent?"

"I moved here when I was 11-years-old, to live with my father. I had to speak French while living here, so I went a long time without speaking English. There was a time when I had forgotten some of it."

"Oh," Nico whispers.

Nico noted how Percy shared a bit of himself, without delving too deep. Almost as if he was careful about getting too personal. He gave just enough to put people at ease but never saying something he didn't want to share.

"You're a lot more observant than I gave you credit for," Percy comments, watching Nico from the corner of his eye, "I think we did well in choosing you to join us."

A blush forms at hearing the compliment, "thank you," Nico expresses breathlessly.

Even with nighttime approaching, there are still plenty of people walking the streets of Paris. They get to a bridge, which Nico soon recognizes as the Pont Alexandre III bridge. His breath catches in his throat at seeing it in person. He never imagined he would get the chance.

Right before the start of the bridge are two columns, each with a statue of a pegasus in different movements, one is on its hind legs, while the other is mid-trot. Near the pegasus are two human statues of women, one with a sword out and the other, with a trumpet. Flanking both sides of the bridge were lamplights, all across it. More statues were adorning the bridge, and Nico tried to memorize it all.

 _I wish I had brought my sketchbook!_ He lamented.

There were tourists on the bridge, taking pictures of it all, and Percy watched them, bored. He bumped into a man walking the opposite direction as them, the man glared at Percy, who merely gave an apologetic look before turning away. Nico watched as Percy stood close to another man, poking his shoulder, making the man look to his right while Percy side-stepped to the man's left, moving gracefully.

They came to a stop in a more secluded part, Nico rested his elbows on the half-wall of the bridge. He quirked an eyebrow up at Percy, who smiled cheekily at Nico.

"I wanted to tell you about the details of the heist," Percy begins, and Nico's whole body thrums alive in excitement.

"What am I helping you with?" He asks.

Percy moves faster than Nico can keep up, pinning him against the wall. Nico moves his right hand up Percy's chest, feeling the solid muscle beneath, and looks into Percy's eyes. Percy's left-hand cups Nico's face, his thumb rubbing his cheek softly, his face merely inches away from Nico. It's all can he do to remember to breathe as Percy fixes him with a piercing stare. His green eyes are hypnotic. This close, Nico can see little flecks of gold in his irises, can feel the warmth of his breath ghosting over Nico's face.

Nico notices how Percy's hand that cups his face shakes slightly as if afraid of touching Nico like this, afraid of breaking him, but this was the role he decided to play, so Percy continues with trembling fingers. Nico doesn't know what to make of that and right now he can't think clearly when Percy's pressed up against him like this.

"See, you'll be helping me run a con," Percy mutters, looking down at Nico and there's something about the look in his eyes as if he's been waiting for Nico for a long time. Waiting specifically for _this_ moment.

Almost like Percy was anticipating this day, and now it was finally here. He was thrumming with a nervous energy that he tried to hide but Nico could feel it radiating off of him. Percy's distracting him, Nico knows it, but it kind of feels like Percy's trying to distract himself too. Like as if giving this moment his full attention would be too much for him.

Nico feels something sliding onto his left hand, but he can't seem to look away from Percy. He smirks down at Nico, sending a shiver down his spine. It's all Nico can do to not melt into a puddle, Percy has such a strong effect on him. Right now his brain can't function all the way to think about what that means.

"Nico, I need you to play my husband," Percy says, "will you do me the honors of marrying me?"

Nico finally rips his eyes away and looks down to see a gold wedding band on his left ring finger. His mind is spinning. Percy wants Nico to play his fake husband? But why him? And why did the idea sound kind of perfect?

 _This is someone else's wedding ring..._ a part of him thinks.

Then Nico feels Percy handing him something in his right hand. He looks down to see another golden wedding band, this time Percy looks at Nico expectantly, waiting for Nico to do something but he doesn't know what it is.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Percy urges and it's then that Nico gets it.

_He wants me to slide the ring down his finger...but why does this all feel so- - intimate? Kind of real..._

Nico swallows hard, and with shaking fingers, he takes Percy's left hand in his. There's a sharp intake of breath from Percy, and Nico looks into his green eyes as he slowly slides the ring onto Percy's left ring finger.

Nico can't help but think that this moment feels almost perfect. It looks good on Percy, the wedding ring, but Nico dispels those thoughts before he lets them get away from him.

He can't help the feeling that somehow, this cements something between them. Nico made his bed and now he'll lie in it because he was quickly realizing that for Percy, he was willing to do anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> Te tiene azotada - she has you whipped.
> 
> Se te olvida que entiendo español, idiota - you forget I can understand Spanish, idiot
> 
> I would just like to say that because I am telling a story with the location being in France and I'm not French at all, anyone who is French and is reading my story, please let me know if I butcher anything from the food to the language to the locations I describe. I will make changes immediately!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's another chapter to King of Thieves.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO or QoT

Percy exhales sharply, he's still looking down at their locked hands, staring intently at the ring on his finger. His eyes glimmer slightly, Nico notes, watching him.

_It's almost like he's been wanting this for a long time..._

Percy looks back up at Nico, and all of a sudden, a mask falls into place. Nico can't read anything off of Percy anymore. His eyes are closed off, his demeanor completely changed, he smiles at Nico, disarmingly kind but the warmth doesn't fully reach his eyes. It's almost as if he did that to make Nico comfortable while also closing himself off from him, but why?

"We're going to be conning a man named Leonard Parker," Percy begins, slowly backing away from Nico, deliberately, as if he didn't want to.

Nico found he could breathe again, his mind still spinning from everything.

"He's a billionaire of the tech world, his company helps other companies protect themselves by offering the highest form of security from hackers," Percy explains.

Nico clears his throat before speaking, "okay, and what are we stealing from him? I'm not familiar with this guy, but taking something from him doesn't seem like the Lotus's style?"

Percy chuckles, twisting the wedding band on his finger, "Leonard has an impressive collection of rare items. Anything from sculptures and works of art to coveted lost pieces of old films, he has it all. He's interested in getting his hands on anything rare, that way he can brag about it."

Nico frowns, "he only cares about having things like that to show off? That's terrible."

"I agree," Percy hums, before continuing, "and recently, he's gotten his hands on the only known live recorded copy of Claude Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, not just a live recording, but the first one ever."

Nico's eyes widen, "no way."

"Yeah," Percy smiles, studying Nico. "The copy had been uncovered with other lost artifacts, and Leonard won the bid for it."

"That's the one that has Clair de lune, right?" Nico asks, stepping towards Percy, who inhales sharply once Nico is near him.

"Yes," Percy smiles, looking away from him, "this heist was my proposal, Clair de lune is one of my favorite compositions."

"Does everyone get to choose what to steal next?" Nico feels excitement bubbling within him and a million questions want to break free.

If they all got to choose their next heist, that meant Nico was bound to get a turn. The thought sent a tingle down his spine, his brain racing a mile a minute trying to think about what he wanted to steal first. The fact that the whole group were thieves left Nico feeling morally gray about a lot of things, and although a part of him felt guilty, there was a stronger part that liked being selfish, taking whatever he wanted.

"Yes, the last heist had been Drew's, who wanted to steal the Blue Moon of Josephine, a rare blue diamond ring, with a rock almost the size of your fist," Percy begins, "that was not an easy heist. Joseph Lau Luen-hung, the previous owner, had bought it as a gift for his daughter, Josephine."

"Couldn't the guy name his kid something else?" Nico interrupts, making Percy laugh, "Why'd he have to name her after himself?"

"The man had an ego, let me tell you, it took Drew weeks to con him just to gain his trust. Finding him was no small feat either, he was like a ghost. No matter how long we kept our ear out to the gossip of the underbelly, it was about two years before we could even get a snippet of his whereabouts."

"Why?" Nico asks, as they slowly make their way across the bridge, walking side by side.

"He became a fugitive after trying to bribe a former minister in Macau," Percy replies, putting his hands in his pockets, "he's been on the run since. He originally lived in Hong Kong and his family is still there, but he can never go back. The ring was bought in Macau, so when he escaped, he took it with him. Couldn't contact his family so the ring never got to be with his daughter. Drew had been eyeing it for some time and Annabeth was looking forward to the challenge, we all were excited for it actually, so we agreed to do it. Escaping was fun though at the time it didn't seem like it."

Nico chuckles, feeling at ease with Percy, walking a little closer to him, "what happened in your escape plan?"

"Well, some things didn't go exactly right so Leo improvised," Percy laughs out loud, carefree, "he pulled out a bunch of glitter bombs, distracting all of us. We had glitter in our hair and clothes for days, Annabeth was pissed." Nico laughs along with Percy, the two of them inching closer to each other the more they talk.

"So, he pulls out the glitter bombs, detonating them one after the other behind us as we all scramble out of Joseph's safe bunker in the middle of Brussels; because he was hiding in Belgium at the time, and his bodyguards are dazed and confused at everything going on. Joseph's screaming at the top of his lungs that the ring is gone and probably cursing Drew's name, and we all clamber in Reyna's car." Percy's face is animated and alive as he talks, his green eyes glittering and Nico can only stare in awe, amazed by the story but also by Percy.

Being around him was nice, it felt like it was just the two of them, inside a little bubble.

"We barely escape because even after getting inside the car, we have his men chasing after us, some in cars and others in motorcycles. Reyna loses most of them, but there was one car who was right on our ass when Leo opened the sunroof and threw one last explosive, making the car flip over in the middle of the street. Then we had to dodge the cops and when we finally did, we got the hell out of Belgium," Percy shakes his head, a fond smile on his face. "It's going to be a while before we go back there."

Nico laughs, feeling happiness coiling in the pit of his stomach, "no way!"

"Yeah!" Percy chuckles, "so if you stick around us long enough, you'll get to choose to do a heist of your own."

There's something about the way he says it that catches Nico's attention. Almost like he wants to convince Nico to stick around, like Percy doesn't want him to leave.

"I'll look forward to that," Nico smirks, and maybe his mind is playing tricks on him because Percy lets out a sigh of relief.

"Back to the heist," Percy starts, getting back on track.

"Right," Nico agrees, "so why are we doing the fake marriage thing?"

"Leonard has a thing for taking marriages apart," Percy states, looking over at him.

Nico quirks an eyebrow, confused, "huh?"

"He likes seducing people who aren't easy or available and likes to go after spouses, he sees it as a challenge, uh, a sort of conquest."

Nico's face contorts in disgust, "that's horrible!"

"It is, Leonard's a despicable man, which is why you shouldn't feel bad stealing from him," Percy smirks his way.

"Okay, so we play fake husbands, he sees it as a challenge but, which one of us will he be "falling" for?" Nico asks, looking up at Percy and wow, the light of the moon shone brilliantly on Percy.

Nico felt his breath catch in his throat, he swallowed hard. Percy looked very handsome right now, and Nico's hands itched to catch this moment in his sketchbook. He once again cursed the fact that he hadn't brought it with him, but he tries to memorize this moment.

"He'll be falling for you," Percy answers, smiling softly, "you'll make the perfect target for Leonard. Someone sweet looking, innocent, someone who could be..." Percy pauses, his piercing gaze making Nico shiver slightly, "easily corrupted."

"Why'd you pick me? Why not Drew? Or even Maya? I'm sure she would have been fine," Nico asks, ducking his head, trying to hide the blush he could feel coming on, "Drew seems like she can morph into anybody..."

"Drew's good at what she does," Percy agrees.

"Which is seducing people, she would've been perfect."

"But she lacks a certain...softness," Percy continues, looking over at Nico, "she would have been found out by Leonard. I needed a _romantic_. Someone who still believes in love and isn't afraid to show it, someone who doesn't mind being vulnerable. Drew hates that, she doesn't like showing that side of herself. I needed someone like you, Nico." Percy finishes, looking at Nico fondly.

_Why do I feel like he means that in more ways than one?_

Nico gulps thickly, trying to will away the blush on his face, "oh..."

"We don't just need you for this one heist though, Annabeth was being honest when she said your replicas are some of the best we've ever seen. We need an art forger in the group. Leo's an artist but he's not one like you, you're beyond talented honestly," Percy compliments Nico, looking away from him. As if just being this honest was making him squirm. Like he wasn't used to it.

"I don't know if I can do it, Percy," Nico bites his lip, doubt creeping into his voice.

"You can," Percy assures him, "I know you can, you're going to be great! You'll be the perfect picture of a blushing husband, just recently married," Percy began creating Nico's role, and then a sly smile spread across his face. He leans in close to Nico, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, his breath tickling Nico's ear. "Look at how adorable your face is when you blush," Percy murmurs in his ear, "like an angel that escaped from heaven."

Nico's face flushes immediately, Percy smiling at seeing his blush. He relents in his teasing, stepping away from Nico and letting Nico compose himself.

"This is exactly why you're perfect," Percy says, breathlessly, "your genuine emotions will make it all more believable."

"Glad I can help in some way," Nico mutters, looking away.

"Let's get dinner," Percy suggests, "it's been a couple of hours since you've last eaten, I bet you're hungry."

Nico opens his mouth to agree but his stomach beats him to the punch, grumbling his answer out.

"I know a great restaurant nearby," Percy laughs, grabbing Nico by his hand, "plus, there's plenty of fun things we can do, we might be able to play the marriage card early," he winks at Nico.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Nico asks as he's pulled in the direction Percy's leading him.

* * *

When Percy invited Nico to dinner, he hadn't expected to be treated to a full course meal!

From chicken to fish to tasting a bunch of different side dishes, Nico felt like he was close to exploding. That didn't stop him from trying everything Percy brought their way. Percy treated Nico to at least three different dishes, and it would have been more but Nico stopped Percy, telling him there was no way he was going to be able to finish everything.

Chicken Marengo was a dish sautéed in oil with garlic and tomato and was accompanied with fried eggs and crayfish. Nico found he liked the way the chicken and fish complemented each other, and he found himself dipping pieces of bread into the sauce. Bourride was fish stew and it had been prepared with sea bass, with bits of scallops and mussels with onions, celery and carrots added in to complete the dish.

Percy shared his soupe à l'oignon with Nico, letting him take a couple of bites. Made with onions, cooked with a golden crust of cheese, and topped with a large piece of bread. Nico was in food heaven. He ripped a piece of bread, spread butter over it, plopped it in his mouth, and moaned in delight. The bread was fresh because Percy kept ordering them one after the other.

"This is amazing," Nico says, eating a mini quiche.

Percy laughs fondly, looking over Nico, "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Are you kidding?" Nico chuckles, and he doesn't know whether to eat more of his fish stew or finish off the chicken, though he was also eyeing the éclair that had just come out. "I feel like I can eat forever."

"Well, we don't want you getting sick, besides, you should save room for the champagne," Percy winks his way.

"Are we ordering some?" Nico asks, finishing the Chicken Marengo.

"How would feel about getting some free champagne?"

"What do you mean?" Nico raises an eyebrow at Percy.

Percy winks at Nico as he beckons a waiter to their table, as soon as she appears, Percy's whole character changes. His demeanor had been quiet while they had talked and continued to order food throughout dinner, but now, there was happy energy around them, emanating from him. His face morphs into something more open, a wide big smile on his face, and his eyes light up.

"Yes, I'd like to order some champagne," Percy begins, a laugh escaping him, and Nico notes it's purposely shy, the bit of accent that was there before vanishes. Percy takes on a more American accent as he continues, "you see, my husband and I just got married yesterday!" His energy is contagious, the waitress can't help but reciprocate it.

"Oh! Congratulations!" The waitress says, a smile forming on her face.

"Thank you! What would you recommend? I'm looking to treat him to something special today," Percy says, grabbing Nico's hand in his, twining their fingers. He looks back at Nico, with tender eyes and Nico feels his face reddening.

"Ah, young love," she muses, looking at them, "wait here, for a couple as lovely as yourselves, I have just the bottle for you!"

"Oh, thank you so much," Percy sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, "you're so kind."

Nico looks at Percy incredulously, "what are you doing?" He whispers the question.

"Relax," Percy eases, "we're in France and we're married," he jokes, "that's something we have to celebrate!"

"You're terrible," Nico laughs, and his hand is still in Percy's. It feels warm and nice, Nico blushes when he looks down at the ring on his finger.

_I know it's stolen but...it kinda feels like it fits just right._

The waitress comes back with a bottle of champagne for them and a slice of chocolate cake, letting them know it's on the house. When Nico takes his first sip, he's surprised by how smooth and airy it feels going down his throat.

"Oh, wow," Nico gasps, "this tastes amazing!"

"Of course," Percy agrees, "only the best for my husband," he winks at Nico.

_There he goes again,_ Nico blushes and he feels like can't control it around Percy. _He says it so easily..._

They continue to drink from the bottle, and Nico feels himself loosening up as the night continues. Nico finds himself talking a bit more about what he was doing in New York before the Lotus came to carry him away.

"I was struggling to get by," he tells Percy, "I have to thank you guys because if you didn't come right then, I would've been living in California right about now."

"You were someone we couldn't let get away," Percy says, taking a sip of his glass.

"My parents aren't very supportive of me, so it was a bit of a struggle, especially in school," Nico elaborates, finishing off his third glass of champagne. He goes for the bottle once more, but Percy snatches it away.

"I think you should drink some water," he suggests, looking at Nico pointedly.

"I feel fine!" Nico insists.

"Maybe, but drinking water doesn't hurt, then you can get another glass," Percy compromises.

"Fine," Nico sighs, defeated, "but it's true, it was hard in college, especially when the only one cheering me on was my sister."

"I'm sorry," Percy sympathizes, "that sucks."

"It does, and let me tell you college was not an easy time for me sometimes," Nico finishes off his glass of water. He looks over at Percy, "can I get another glass now?"

"Hm," Percy hums, "give it a minute. What's your sister's name?"

"Hazel," Nico smiles softly, "she's the best person ever, she's also majoring in art. Another disappointment in the family," he says, a sardonic smile on his face.

"So she's still in school?" Percy asks, pouring some more champagne in his glass before pouring the rest in Nico's. "The last one," he tells Nico, raising his glass to clink it with Nico's.

"Yeah, although she chose to go to school in California, she likes staying closer to family," Nico explains.

"So why did you choose New York?" Percy asks, and maybe it's Nico's imagination, but the way Percy's looking at him sends a shiver down his spine. Something is thrilling about that look like Percy was drinking in everything about Nico.

"I wanted to be away, I know my dad wanted me to take over his company but..." Nico trails off, "I kinda feel like I let him down, I mean that was his vision-"

"But it wasn't yours," Percy interrupts, "there's nothing wrong with that."

"I know there isn't, I just wish things weren't so tense every time we spoke. He always ends up trying to convince me to come back home, says he'll pay for me to go back to school and major in business." Nico rubs a hand down his face.

"Well, the next time you speak with your dad you can tell him that you scored an amazing job," Percy teases.

"That reminds me, I have no idea what I'm gonna tell him," Nico laughs, shaking his head, "my dad can always tell when I'm lying, and it's not even that I'm a terrible liar, he just knows!"

"Mmm, you are with one of the best liars in the world right now, I'll teach you my trade," Percy smiles at him, and there's that fond look in his eyes that Nico keeps noticing.

"I'll be working with you, hand in hand?" Nico plays along, quirking an eyebrow.

"Literally," Percy says, grabbing Nico's hand again, "we have the matching rings to prove it. We're a team now."

"You and me," Nico begins, "conning the world together."

"Yes," Percy agrees quickly, his eyes sparkling, "exactly as I pictured it, how lucky am I? To have a husband like you."

Nico shakes his head, laughter bubbling out of him, "you say it so easily..."

"Because it's so easy to say, try it," Percy urges him, "call me your husband, tell me how much you adore me," he teases.

Nico blushes profusely, "or how you annoy me..." he looks away.

"Hey! We've only been married for a day and already I annoy you?" Percy jokes.

"Yeah, is there any way I can return you?" Nico quips.

"I'm afraid that expired when you decided to put this ring on my finger, looks like you're stuck with me," Percy smiles at him.

"Well, that throws a wrench in my plans..." Nico mutters, a small smile on his face.

"What plans were those?" There's a glint in Percy's eyes.

"I was planning to romance this other guy," Nico looks over at Percy, smirking when he catches on.

"I did say we are a team, we can romance him together," Percy chuckles, squeezing Nico's hand that was still in his.

And Nico finds it very hard to take his hand back from Percy.

* * *

The walk back to the penthouse is filled with their banter and Nico can't help the butterflies in his stomach at every look and touch Percy sends his way. He has to remind himself on more than one occasion to not let this get away from him. The last thing he needs is to fall for the con itself.

Nico wasn't oblivious, he saw the way Percy would sometimes walk a little closer to him, or the fleeting touches he'd give Nico or even the looks he'd shoot his way. He didn't know what it all meant. Was Percy trying to make Nico more comfortable before the con started so that he was more at ease around Percy when they played their parts or was it something more? There was something about Percy that kept drawing him in, but it seemed to be working both ways.

Although Percy wasn't offering to share much about himself, when Nico talked about his family or a bit about his life in New York, Percy would listen intently, soaking it all up. Percy paid attention to what Nico was saying, and if he were honest, that felt very flattering.

In some of Nico's past relationships, his ex-boyfriends weren't always as attentive as Percy was being. Nico felt pretty ignored in some of them and that was never a good feeling. And almost every single one of his past relationships ended up breaking his heart.

They walk inside the penthouse, where Drew is lounging on the teal chaise near the edge of the windows. She's in red lingerie, covered only by a black see-through robe, with black faux fur lining the ends of the sleeves. Nico's eyes bulge at the fact that she's half-naked in the living room. She looks up at them, smirking once she notes Nico's red cheeks.

"Don't mind Drew," Percy begins, noticing as well, "you're going to be seeing her like this a lot."

"You're free to stare darling," Drew murmurs as she flips the page of a magazine.

Maya's on the couch, her sketchpad in hand, and her hair tied up in a bun. She's humming to herself as she paints with her watercolors. Nico walks over and sits next to her, looking over her shoulder.

"Do you like the colors I'm using?" She asks, painting the details of her flower drawing.

"Yeah, those are pretty colors you chose," Nico says.

"Maybe next time you'll draw me, won't you darling?" Drew teases Maya, and even though she's focused on her work, there's a blush that's creeping down her neck from the comment.

"If you're offering to be my model," Maya mutters shyly.

"Of course darling," Drew coos, "I'd be delighted to be your model, maybe I'll let draw _on_ me, use my body as your canvas," she all but purrs and Maya lets out a choked noise from the back of her throat, her hand faltering briefly.

"Drew," Percy begins, looking pointedly at her from his seat on the zebra chair, "stop torturing Maya."

"As if you could get Drew to do anything," Leo mutters, coming out of the kitchen with a plate of food in his hand.

"Oh you could, but you'd have to pay me in diamonds," Drew smiles at the Latino.

"Last time I paid you with a ruby ring so that you could help me in the kitchen-" Leo begins while Percy cackles.

"That was your first mistake," Percy mutters, shaking his head.

"Never ask Drew for help in the kitchen," Leo tells Nico, "she'll set fire to everything and that's kinda my job!"

"I tried to help that time!" Drew cries indignantly.

"I asked you to watch the ribs in the oven while I went very quickly down to the bakery to get some fresh bread," Leo continues.

"Well, I watched the ribs..." Drew mutters.

"Yeah," Leo agrees, "watched them burn!"

Drew crosses her arms over her chest, her magazine long forgotten, "well, you didn't tell me what time they'd be done."

"Yes, I did-!" Leo begins and is cut off by Drew.

"I must have forgotten..." she says nonchalantly.

"I told you to take them out in ten minutes," Leo rubs a hand down his face, "the point is, she's terrible in the kitchen and I stole a ruby ring for nothing because she was no help."

"It wasn't for nothing, I still wear that ring and I look back on that time fondly," she blows a kiss to Leo.

"You ruined my dish for dinner club," Leo says, blowing the metaphorical kiss sent to him away with his hand.

"Dinner club?" Nico and Maya ask at the same time.

"We have a dinner club here," Percy starts explaining, "it includes everyone except Annabeth because she says what's the point when we could just eat at restaurants."

"We exclude Drew too, considering she's just there to eat," Leo mumbles.

"We all get together once a week and we all make a dish that we share," Percy continues, "it's fun, you'll like it."

"I bring desserts to our dinner club," Drew begins, "there's no reason to exclude me!"

"But you don't cook!" Leo starts, "you're just there to sit on the corner of the counter and try to distract us as we cook, you're like a cat!"

"But I like to get fed all of the dishes you make," Drew whines, putting on a sad face.

"Yeah, we already know that princess," Leo grumbles, before leaving the living room with a goodnight.

Grover walks through the door as soon Leo closes his bedroom door, waving at them in greeting, "Neeks!"

Nico looks at Grover, his eyebrows furrowing, "uh, Neeks?"

"Yeah," Grover laughs, coming to sit down next to him, "that's gonna be your nickname."

"Just Nico is fine," he says.

"Oh, Neeks," Grover shakes his head while Nico glares at him, "so listen, I modded your phone," he says, pulling Nico's phone out of his pocket, "I just had to delete your social media presence."

"What?" Nico asks, looking through his phone.

"Yeah, you can't exactly have Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook when you're traveling with us. All those apps use GPS, we can't have the cops tracking us," Grover shrugs his shoulders.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true," Nico says, "but I can call my family, right?"

"You can just try not to call them all the time, and when you do, try doing it in my room so that I can block any incoming signals," Grover explains.

"Got it," Nico pockets his cellphone.

"Well, I'm off to bed, night guys," Grover gets up from the couch and makes his way to his bedroom.

"Yes, it is getting rather late," Drew yawns, stretching out in the chaise.

"Come on Nico," Percy says, getting up from the chair, "let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

"Okay, night," Nico says, looking back at Maya and Drew, who wish him goodnight.

Walking down the hall, Nico can see more paintings and stolen jewelry and busts lining the walls and floor. They pass by two doors before Percy opens one and lets Nico go inside first.

The first thing Nico observes is the light blue walls of the room, with gold crown moldings. The ceilings are high and three big windows overlook the city, teal curtains are drawn on two of them, with the one facing the bed left open. There's a door left open, leading to the closet and in the middle space between the first and second windows from the bed, there's a big oak desk. Off to the right of the door, there's another chaise, green and another door that's closed, leading to the bathroom Nico guesses. On the side that has the desk, there's a dark wooden wardrobe between the second and third windows, and in the open space between the two doors on the farther side, there's a dresser.

Nico looks over to the bed and flushes when he sees that there's a mirror serving as the headboard, overlooking the bed. The bedsheets are chocolate brown, with a big teal blanket thrown over it. The bed looks soft, with several pillows scattered across it. At the foot of the bed, there's a chocolate brown bedroom bench.

_I can't even begin to imagine doing anything on that bed with that mirror hanging over it..._

Nico clears his throat before looking over at Percy, "so I'll be staying here then?"

"Yeah," Percy answers, a sly smile on his face, "I hope you don't mind the mirror."

"No!" Nico says quickly, before biting his lip, "I mean, it certainly makes a...statement..."

Percy steps closer to Nico, "wouldn't you like to watch yourself splayed across my bed," he whispers in Nico's ear.

Nico whirls his head Percy's way, blushing and trying to ignore the tingle that shot through him, "uh..."

"Just teasing you," Percy winks at him.

"Yeah..." Nico mumbles, looking away as Percy steps towards the window to close the curtain. _You like doing that a lot,_ he thinks to himself.

"Well, you can borrow some loose shirts of mine," Percy offers, walking to his dresser to pull out a couple of shirts. "Here, you can try these on and see what fits."

"Thanks," Nico says, walking over to Percy.

"Well, have a good sleep, I'll see you in the morning," Percy says, smiling at Nico before making his way out.

"Uh, wait," Nico begins, "you're not sleeping in here?" And then he flushes because he doesn't want Percy to think that Nico wants to sleep with him.

"I'm not sleeping yet, I still have some things to do," Percy looks over at Nico, opening his bedroom door, "don't worry about me."

"I don't want to put you out of your bed, I can sleep on the chaise," Nico says.

"No," Percy shakes his head, "trust me, you're fine. My bed is now your bed, husband," he teases.

" _Percy_ ," Nico looks at him.

"I mean it Nico, don't worry about me, have a good night, okay?" Percy smiles at him before leaving.

Nico looks at the closed door before shrugging and trying on the shirts Percy had picked out for him. He settles onto Percy's bed, feeling the softness of the sheets and feels all the tension seep out of his body. He hadn't realized he felt so tired, the events of the day before and today catching up to him. He yawns, turning on his side, facing the door of the bedroom.

Percy was the type of person who listened to people share things about themselves without ever divulging any information about himself. He was disarming and could draw people to him. Nico frowns slightly, thinking about when Percy was around him, how he would sometimes say things that seemed to be important to him, but Nico couldn't figure out why. It was almost as if Percy was afraid to show his real self to Nico.

_I wonder why Percy holds back around me_...is the last thought Nico has before he falls asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here's another chapter!
> 
> I'd like to give a little warning, there is a topic about ICE and the separation of families pretty early on in the chapter. If that's something that bothers you, you can skip it. It starts around the time Maya is discussing why she doesn't like to stay in beds that aren't her own and ends when Nico grabs her hand.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, and QoT

When Nico opens his eyes, he's in a place he doesn't recognize. It takes a second for his brain to catch up to him, but once it does, he's thrumming with excitement.

_I'm actually in Paris...this wasn't a dream!_

He stretches his body, hearing some bones pop when he cracks his neck. With a final yawn, he climbs out of bed, looking at his phone on the nightstand. It was 9:03 am. He looks over at the side Percy would have taken and noticed that it looks like it did the night before, completely untouched. Which meant he hadn't slept in his bed and that was exactly what Nico didn't want. He didn't want to feel like he was kicking Percy out of his room, he'd have to talk to him about that.

Walking out of the bedroom, Nico goes into the living room to see if anyone else is up. He comes across Maya, sleeping on the couch.

_I thought she'd be sleeping in Drew's bedroom..._

Nico tries to walk past her as quietly as possible so that he doesn't wake her up.

 _I haven't explored the balcony yet..._ he thinks to himself, his body already moving toward the door that led outside.

When he gets to the balcony, he sees a big, long table with several chairs and one huge umbrella coming out from the middle. It was closed for now, and Nico guessed it opened up for whenever it was too sunny or raining and the Lotus wanted to eat outside together. Looking to his left, his breath catches because he finds Percy leaning against the railing, a mug in his hands as he looks out at the city.

The sunlight hits him beautifully, and his hair looks soft to the touch. A part of Nico wants to run his fingers through Percy's locks, just to see if they're as soft as they look.

He walks over to Percy, coming to stand next to him with his back to the railing.

"Good morning, Nico," Percy looks over at him with a small smile.

"Morning," Nico mumbles shyly.

"Did you sleep well?" He asks, taking a sip from his mug, "there's coffee in case you want, inside."

"No, I'm okay thank you," Nico shakes his head, "but yeah, honestly I knocked out as soon as my head hit the pillow."

Percy laughs softly, "you were deep in sleep, that's for sure," he finishes his mug and sets it to the side, on a small white wooden table Nico hadn't noticed.

"You came back last night?" Nico asks, looking up at Percy.

"I did, around four in the morning," Percy answers, resting his cheek on his hand as he continues to watch Nico.

"But, you didn't sleep on your bed?"

 _Why's he looking at me like that?_ Nico asks himself, realizing that Percy was staring intently at him, his eyes raking over the shirt Percy lent. As if committing Nico in his shirt to his memory.

"I slept on the chaise for the rest of the morning, I didn't want to wake you in case you were a light sleeper," Percy looks away from Nico and back out to the city.

"I sleep like the dead," Nico jokes, smiling at him. "You didn't need to worry about waking me."

"So then, you wouldn't have minded if I had slept next to you?" Percy asks, and there's something about the way he says it like he wants to do just that but won't allow himself the pleasure of doing it.

"No way, it's your bed anyways Percy," Nico shakes his head.

"Well, it's your bed now too," Percy looks at him, a glint in his eyes, "husband."

Nico stutters, feeling his face grow warm, "uh..." he clears his throat to gather his bearings.

"Sorry," Percy exhales softly, "you're just so easy to tease, I can't help myself."

"Well, at least I know you're doing it in a fun way, it's something else when someone does it to put you down..." Nico mutters, looking down at the ground.

"What to do you mean?" Percy quirks his head to the side, turning his body towards Nico.

"Sorry, I guess I'm still sort of mad at how my ex treated me...about four months before you guys came to get me, I had been in a really bad relationship with someone." Nico begins, "it was honestly very draining because he was an artist too, but he was very selfish and self-centered."

"What happened?" Percy asks, his eyebrows furrowing.

"He was the type of person who would ask me for everything, saying his next piece was genius and that he needed all the help he could get. I ran myself ragged trying to help him out, that for a while, I didn't focus on me or my art. Everything he needed, I gave it to him. If he needed encouragement, food, even help with his stupid pieces, which by the way, were mostly my idea. He took that from me and then made himself big with it. He broke into the art scene and the more publicity he got the more he ignored me," Nico spits out.

"Nico, I'm sorry," Percy says quietly.

"And then when I started to get back into focus with my career and getting back into the rhythm of my art, all he would do was point out all of the flaws and then tell me he was just joking when I would get mad. It felt like nothing I did was good enough for him, he would always nitpick when I was doing something wrong. No matter how much I tried to change, it was never enough," Nico finishes, crossing his arms across his chest.

"The worst part was I didn't even get the satisfaction of breaking up with him, he broke up with me once he got his gallery opening with the art I helped him create," Nico flushes red. "He said I was dragging him down. _Me?_ He couldn't even think about the concept without me offering up _my_ idea. I did the pieces for most of it too! That was supposed to me with the gallery opening."

Percy grabs Nico's hand, rubbing his thumb softly across Nico's palm, the gentleness a complete contrast with the frown on his face, "what's his name?" Percy asks, and the sharp tone of his voice makes Nico look up at him abruptly.

There's a dark look in his eyes, and his eye color has gone from the vivid green Nico's come to know to a dark, murky blue, like the sea at storm.

"We can make him pay, we can make it so that he regrets _ever_ hurting you," Percy continues, an edge to his voice.

"No," Nico shakes his head, squeezing Percy's hand, "don't worry about it, sooner or later everyone's going to find out he's a fraud. He got those ideas from me, but he doesn't have me anymore so..."

"But he hurt you, Nico," Percy insists, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "we can't just let him get away with it."

"Think of it this way, if he hadn't screwed me over, I would've never been here..." Nico feels his cheeks growing warm, he looks up at Percy, "with...you."

Percy pauses, a slow smile spreads across his face, and just like that, his eyes go back to the green that Nico likes best, "yeah, you're right."

"I think I got the better end of the deal," Nico laughs softly, "besides, it's not the first bad relationship I've had."

"There have been others?" Percy asks, quirking up an eyebrow, inching closer to Nico.

"Oh yeah, and almost all of them ended badly, but I think I just chose to date bad people. My best friend tells me I'm like a magnet attracting terrible partners," he sighs.

_I've had my heart broken more times than I can count..._

"Nico," Percy says softly, "I-"

"No, it's okay," Nico looks over at him, "with every bad relationship, I've learned something from them and after my last one, I had worked on myself a lot. By the time you guys came in the picture, I had gotten my self-esteem back up and I was getting confident with my art again. I put in a lot of work to feel better and to do better now, so in my next future relationship," Nico pauses, turning his head to look at the city, "I just know it's going to be okay. It's going to work out, I can feel it."

Percy smiles at him fondly, squeezing his hand once more before, hesitantly, letting go. "I'm happy for you Nico."

"Thanks," Nico smiles sheepishly.

"I think we should celebrate, so I'm taking you out on a date," Percy begins, dispelling the somber air around them, "you need to be appreciated."

"I don't," Nico says, laughing softly.

"Yes, you do, you went through a big change and more changes are coming your way. Besides, we can get more comfortable around each other if we go on dates more often. We also need to set up boundaries," Percy hums, walking to the door of the balcony.

"Why?" Nico asks, following after him.

"That way, we do things you're comfortable with," Percy explains, smirking once noticing Nico's blush.

_Like...kissing and stuff?_

Maya is up by the time they walk inside, with a cup of coffee in her hand and a buttery croissant in the other.

"Morning guys," she says taking a sip of her coffee.

Reyna, Leo, Drew and Annabeth are all sprawled out in the living room, Victoria rubbing herself against everyone before running over to Nico and Percy, meowing at them in greeting. Grover soon comes out of the kitchen, balancing three coffee mugs on his hands. He goes to Nico and hands him one while handing the other to Percy.

"Thanks, Grover," Nico says, walking over to the coffee table where there's an assortment of pieces of bread laid out.

"Yeah, no problem," Grover says, coming to sit on the couch next to Maya.

Percy sits next to Grover, while Nico sits on the floor, near the coffee table and ripping into a chocolate croissant. Everyone starts to talk to each other, eating together and Nico can't help but feel warm and happy being here, with all of them. Drew's on the chaise, lounging like a cat while flipping a magazine, a coffee mug in her hand. Leo's eating three different things at once while talking with Reyna about cars. Annabeth is feeding little treats to Victoria, talking to her in a loving voice while Victoria meows back at her.

_This feels perfect...it feels like I'm exactly where I belong._

"Did you sleep well, darling?" Drew looks over at Maya, who perks up hearing Drew's voice.

"Yes, I did, thanks," Maya smiles over at her.

"You know," Leo begins, turning his attention to her, "since Drew won't offer her room to you, you can always stay in mine." He winks, which earns him a glare from Drew.

"You can sleep in my room in case you don't want to sleep with Leo and trust me," Reyna starts, smirking when Leo lets out a whine, "you don't want to stay with Leo."

"I can attest to that," Grover snorts.

"You guys are mean!" Leo complains.

"Or you can stay in mine," Annabeth starts, "I don't use my bed, I rarely sleep anyways."

Nico notices Drew flipping through her magazine a little too harshly, barely looking at the pictures, a frown on her face.

"Oh, thanks guys," Maya begins, sheepishly, "but I'm fine where I am."

"But wouldn't it be more comfortable sleeping on a bed instead of a couch?" Nico asks, looking over at her.

"Oh," Maya starts, "um, it would, but I don't feel very comfortable sleeping on a bed that's not mine..."

"How come?" Leo questions, plopping a bite-size croissant into his mouth.

"Um," Maya fidgets, "well, I like sleeping in something that's mine, and it's something I've carried with me ever since I was a kid." Maya looks down, her hands curling in her skirt, "um, I used to be in foster care with my brother, and the beds always felt...cold. Impersonal."

"Why were you in foster care?" Nico asks, noticing the way both Grover and Annabeth tense up.

"When I lived in America, my parents came over the border illegally, this was before me and my brother were born. My mom came from El Salvador, my dad from Ecuador, traveling across in trucks, they said it was hard to breathe." Maya swallows thickly, "we were living in Texas when I was eleven and ICE came to take them away. I came home from school one day and they were gone."

Everyone is dead silent, Drew shifts on the chaise, coming to sit up straighter.

"My brother was eight, so I was the oldest but I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to cry but I was panicking. I ran to the neighbors and for a while, we stayed with them before social services came to take us away. For three years, we went in and out of foster care homes, sometimes being separated from each other before my mom finally came back. It took my dad another year before he was back with us but, I'll never forget how scared and alone I felt."

Nico grabs Maya's hand, who squeezes his gratefully, "so, I don't like sleeping in a bed that's not mine, I don't have good memories there. I appreciate it but please, don't worry about me sleeping on the couch. Besides, it's pretty comfy," she laughs, trying to lighten the mood and then Leo cracks a smile.

"Yeah, you can thank me," he begins, following Maya's desire to make things lighter, "I was the one who said we should get it. Everyone can say thank you, Leo."

"You're annoying Leo," Drew teases, making everyone else crack up while Leo throws a piece of croissant at her.

"That was very brave of you to share," Annabeth says, looking over at Maya with a kind smile.

"We're sorry you went through that, but know that we're here for you," Percy smiles at her, everyone sharing their agreements.

"Thanks, guys," Maya rubs at her eye, a small smile on her face, "I appreciate it."

"Back to business," Annabeth begins, finishing off her coffee and setting the mug down on the table, "Maya and Nico, I'll need you both to come to the Louvre with me."

Nico's head shoots up, "we're going to the Louvre?!"

"Yes," the blonde smiles at him, "so get ready, because as soon as you're done with breakfast we're going."

Nico finishes his coffee and bread quickly, with Maya dusting herself off.

"I'm gonna go get my sketchpad," Nico calls as he races to Percy's room, with Maya reaching into a bag on the side of the couch, slinging it over her shoulder.

"I'm ready!" She beams.

"Me too," Nico says breathlessly, still wearing Percy's shirt but with his pants from the day before. He has a satchel slung over his shoulder with his art supplies.

"Have fun little dove!" Drew calls out from the chaise, smiling at them.

"I'll be picking you up afterward Nico," Percy calls as they leave the penthouse.

* * *

Nico's eyes flit all over, there's so much to see he doesn't know where to focus on. He never imagined he'd be here one day, seeing the Louvre in person.

"This is the Denon wing," Annabeth explains quietly, "it's where they house all of the Italian and Spanish paintings."

The walls of the wing were red with tiled flooring that mimicked wood. The ceiling was glass, and there was gold trimming on the walls, with small details painted near the top. Maya had pointed out that everything was organized according to color. Egyptian antiquities by green, paintings by red, and Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities by blue. There were stunning archways that led to a different section of paintings, and the walls from what Nico could see were a dark beige color.

They finally come across the painting Annabeth wants. The painting is encased in a beautifully carved, very thick, wooden frame.

"I can just picture this above my fireplace," Annabeth sighs.

Nico immediately takes out his sketchpad, with Maya taking out a small notebook, getting as close as possible to the painting while still giving Nico room to see. Nico starts to sketch out the painting, a rough outline marking which colors go where. Maya mutters to herself as she jots down a couple of things. They stay like that for a while, Nico sketching, Maya writing down notes, and Annabeth observing the two.

"Let's continue, we don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves," Annabeth murmurs, ushering them along.

Nico puts his sketchbook away, looking at the different paintings housed inside the museum. Works like The Coronation of the Virgin, Venus and the Three Graces, The four seasons, and a dozen more. And with each one they saw, the three of them talked about the composition, the use of the colors, and what they felt when looking at the painting. It was everything Nico dreamed about and more.

"I think we've seen enough, we can have a more _private_ tour later on," Annabeth smirks at them as they make their way out of the Louvre.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Maya asks, smiling.

"Yes, I realize with the painting being encased, you wouldn't be able to tell what type of coat, glazing or texture was used," Annabeth says, walking alongside them, hands clasped together.

"I was just about to say that," Maya agrees, "it was difficult to tell with the glass over it. Nico," she says, turning to look at him, "did you notice the little cracks all over?"

"Yeah, I did," Nico answers.

"We're going to need to age the painting to make it look as old as the original," she says, biting her thumb.

"I'll write it down in my notes," Nico says, taking out his sketchpad to quickly jot it down before he forgot.

"We're going to need to get the mixtures just right so that the colors match exactly...we'll need a layer of gesso base coat, several layers of oil-based paint, then there are the several layers of varnishing to protect the surface..." Maya begins to mutter to herself. "With all of that, plus each layer drying at different rates, and depending on how quickly we work...we need to get the craquelure _just_ right. That's going to be difficult."

"What will you need me to do to make it easier for both of you?" Annabeth asks.

"Hm, I need to see the painting _outside_ of the framework, then we can figure out what we'd need," Maya looks over at Annabeth. "But honestly, being able to see the painting under an optical microscope would be great. Something invasive so that we could get it perfect..."

"Well, if you are up for it, tonight we can break into the Louvre. I'll have Leo accompany us so that he could get the painting out of the frame. He's used to working with delicate things. Nico," the blonde looks over at him, "you'll need to sketch that painting until you can draw it with your eyes closed. Memorize every little detail from the dress to the necklace to her headpiece."

"Got it," Nico nods.

"As for an optical microscope, I'll see if I can get one by tonight. We'll be breaking in around midnight, so be ready by then," Annabeth smiles minutely. She looks over Nico's shoulder, her smile growing, "Nico, I believe Percy's here to pick you up."

Nico turns around to see Percy crossing the street. He's dressed casually today, with a black v-neck, a brown cardigan, and dark blue jeans.

"There's my husband," Percy says once he's close enough to them.

Nico grows warm in the face, sighing softly. "Hey, Percy." Nico sees Maya raising a brow but she keeps quiet, a small smile working its way on her face.

"Maya," Annabeth begins, looking at her phone, "Drew wants to continue with your training, she's asking me to bring you back."

"Oh! Yeah, of course," she flushes before waving goodbye at the pair, with Annabeth saying she'd see them later.

Percy looks back at Nico, "ready for our date?"

* * *

They walk through the Champ de Mars Park, which has a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. There's greenery everywhere, with lots of trees and flowers. In the very middle, there is a lot of plain grass where people lay down picnic blankets and hang out. Nico looks at the Eiffel Tower, wishing they could go closer but Percy seems content to stay seated at the bench they're at.

"I told you this morning that I wanted to set boundaries so that you would be comfortable," he begins, looking over at Nico.

"Oh, yeah, that's important."

"Keep in mind we're playing husbands, so we have to sell that, especially to Leonard, we'll have to get comfortable with touching each other and kissing. There's something about a casual touch in a relationship that can't be replicated in the same way if it's fake." Percy continues, looking over at Nico, before reaching out a hand and touching Nico's face. "This right here, seems casual enough, like I do it often and to the outside observer, it might look like an intimate touch, but it's not."

Nico feels his cheeks grow warm, "so, how do you propose we make it as believable as possible?"

"We'll need to be very comfortable with each other and have trust between us," Percy explains, "the best way, is putting it to practice."

"Okay, but," Nico starts, taking out his sketchpad, "I think I should write down the things I'd be comfortable doing and things that are off-limits."

"Okay, let's see, kissing?" Percy asks.

"I'm okay with that, so long as it's not..." Nico glances at Percy before looking back at his book, " _too_ intimate..."

Percy rolls his eyes, a smile on his face, "Nico we're playing husbands, we're going to need to make out, especially if we want to be believable."

"Then I think I need time to get used to it," Nico shrugs his shoulders.

"I have the perfect idea on how that can happen," Percy says, a sly smile working its way on his face. He leans in close to Nico, putting an arm around his shoulders, their thighs pressing against each other. "Can I kiss you?" He asks, looking at Nico straight in the eyes.

Nico swallows thickly, before answering with a shaky, "yes."

Percy leans in, closing the distance between them, and his soft lips touch Nico's. Percy swipes at his lips, grabbing his lower lip between his teeth and biting down softly, making Nico moan. He opens his mouth, letting Percy's tongue explore every inch of him, swiping at his tongue, before suckling softly. With a final peck to his lips, Percy pulls away, slowly, and Nico can tell he's stalling, not wanting it to end.

"That wasn't so bad, right?" Percy whispers, his eyes growing dark, staring at Nico intensely.

"No," Nico says, with a shaky voice, "so kissing like _that_ is okay." He flushes when Percy smirks down at him. "And," he clears his throat, "hand-holding is okay too." He starts to write that down in his book.

"Like this," Percy says, twining their fingers together. "What about little touches, like this?" He asks, running his fingers through Nico's hair, before slowly cupping his face.

"That's- also fine," Nico chokes out.

"What about hugging, embracing?" Percy asks, squeezing Nico closer to him.

"That's fine too," Nico nods his head, "just don't..." he falters, looking away from Percy.

"Don't what?" Percy asks, trying to get Nico to look at him.

"Don't toy with me or my feelings, okay?" Nico pleads, looking down at his lap.

"Nico, I would never do that," Percy inhales sharply, "trust me."

Nico looks up at him, and he can see the truth clear in Percy's eyes, "okay, I do."

"This is..." Percy pauses, looking away from Nico, a frown on his face as if he tasted something bitter, " _fake._ But it's still you and me, we're in this together."

"You and me," Nico repeats, smiling at him.

They stay quiet for a moment, just staring at each other and Nico feels a tingle throughout his body.

"Do you want to get some ice cream? I'll take you to my favorite spot," Percy suggests.

"Okay, let's go."

They walk out of the park, hand in hand, with Percy saying they needed to act like a couple as soon as possible so that Nico could grow accustomed to it.

"You know, I'd love to see the Eiffel Tower up close, it's pretty, huh?" Nico comments, looking back at it.

"Yeah," Percy agrees, but when Nico looks over at him, he's frowning at the tower.

"You don't...exactly like it, right?" Nico asks and Percy stops walking, staring at him.

"Why would you say that?" He asks, but his eyes glitter, and Nico can tell Percy's interest is piqued.

"The way you said, it's like you said it to agree with me, to...please me, sort of, but why?"

Percy quirks up an eyebrow, "you're saying I agreed with you on purpose?"

"Yeah," Nico nods his head, "you did, and I think you said it because you know that's something I would want to hear."

"Well, was it not what you wanted to hear?" Percy asks, and this time he's confused.

"Well, no, not if you don't agree with it. I'd want to hear your actual opinion on things, not just you agreeing to agree. Not just...trying to please me or make me happy," Nico tells him, looking up at Percy.

"But, people like to hear that, they like someone agreeable and easy-going," Percy's eyebrows begin to furrow.

"I don't, I don't want someone who will just go along with everything I want to do, I want someone who isn't afraid to share their thoughts and feelings, someone who isn't easy-going all the time. Because that kind of person doesn't exist," Nico frowns slightly.

"But I am that kind of person."

"No, that's just the role you choose to play," Nico says.

"I play many roles," Percy shrugs his shoulders.

"But that's not what I want when we're together, especially if we're going to be working together," Nico shakes his head. "I want the real you, Percy, I don't want you playing a role around me."

"You..." Percy falters, "you want the real me?"

"Yeah," Nico replies.

"But...what if," Percy looks away from Nico, and with his free hand, rubs the back of his neck, "what if you don't like the real me?"

"Percy, I'll take the real you over any role you play," Nico squeezes Percy's hand.

Percy stays quiet, and then he looks at Nico, determined, "okay, I'll try to be real around you."

"No playing roles, right?" Nico asks.

Percy squeezes his hand, "no roles, no games."

Nico smiles up at him, "good."

* * *

When they get to the ice cream shop, Nico notices it's a little hole in the wall, secluded by other restaurants, shops, and apartment buildings. They're the only two people there at this time, and the person at the counter had been on their phone before the chiming of the bell let her know she had customers.

"Bonjour," she greets them, smiling at them politely, "comment allez-vous?"

"Bonjour, nous sommes bien, merci," Percy replies.

"Bonjour," Nico begins before smiling sheepishly, "but that's all the French I know, sorry."

The girl laughs, before replying in English, "it's okay, thank you for trying! How can I help you today?"

"I'd like to try your vanilla ice cream," Percy smiles at the girl, "and my husband will try..." he pauses, looking over at Nico.

"Hm, can I please try the pistachio ice cream?"

"Of course," she smiles at them, grabbing two small wooden sticks and scooping a bit of the vanilla onto one, and pistachio on the other, handing them to Percy and Nico.

Nico looks over at Percy, noting the way he closes his eyes while savoring the taste. Like tasting, vanilla ice cream was a fond memory of his. Nico tastes his pistachio ice cream, humming at how creamy and delicious it was.

"I'll have two scoops of pistachio ice cream in a cup, please," Nico says, smiling around the wooden stick.

"I'll have two scoops strawberry, the same way, thank you," Percy says before walking to a small table with two chairs.

"I thought you were going for vanilla," Nico comments as he sits down across from Percy.

"No," Percy smiles sadly, "I allow myself just one taste."

Nico quirks up an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything.

_Percy hates the Eiffel Tower...he also likes vanilla ice cream but won't get it..._

The girl brings their ice cream to their table with a smile, telling them to enjoy it.

_I better write this down in my notebook so I don't forget. These are little things about Percy that are real._

"Do you like your ice cream?" Percy asks, taking a bite out of his.

"Yeah, do you want to taste?" Nico offers him some on his spoon.

Percy laughs softly before leaning in to take a bite and then doing the same for Nico with his strawberry ice cream.

"There was another reason for this date," Percy begins, glancing over at Nico.

"What's that?" Nico asks around a spoonful of pistachio.

"We need to work on our background story," he replies.

"Oh, well, how would we go about that?"

"We stick as closely as possible to the truth, you're pretty new at conning, so I don't want you getting any details mixed up," Percy explains.

"Okay," Nico starts, "I think I get it. We could say we met in New York," he laughs, "I was at a gallery showing."

Percy chuckles, shaking his head, "exactly. We could say, I bumped into you, stopping you from knocking over a vase," his eyes start to glint excitedly.

"You asked me out on a date and I said yes."

"We went to a coffee shop," Percy begins, leaning in closer.

"I talked about art!" Nico says, smiling at him.

"Yes," Percy says breathlessly as if that had happened, "and I talked about my job as a contractor, but that I always had an appreciation for the arts," he laughs.

"I talked about how I worked at the gallery you met me in. You were only here on business for a day and then you had to leave," Nico puts on a sad face making Percy chuckle.

"I didn't get your phone number, we only had that one date to look back on," Percy grabs Nico's hand.

"I thought I would never see you again," Nico squeezes his hand.

"I regretted it," Percy croaks out, and the way he says it, makes Nico think he's torn about that.

"Even though you had left, I never forgot you," Nico continues, "it wasn't until three months later that we finally met again."

"Yes," Percy agrees quickly, "I had been searching for you at that same gallery place, but I didn't find you there. Instead, I found you at a park, selling your paintings," Percy smirks.

"Once we saw each other-" Nico begins.

"We decided to date, and fell in love quickly," Percy continues, looking at Nico softly.

"We dated for six months before you proposed," Nico smiles at him.

"It was long-distance but we made it work, I traveled from Paris to New York and you did the same whenever you could."

"After we got married, I moved to live here with you," Nico smirks at him.

"Yes, and everything fell into place," Percy smiles at him fondly.

They stare at each other and Nico can't help but think in the back of his mind that something about this feels familiar. And the story they created sounds perfect.

"Come on, there's somewhere I want to take you," Percy says once they've finished their ice cream, exiting the shop.

Percy takes Nico to a restaurant and once they get inside Nico sees a stage in the center. The walls of the place are a deep purple, giving it a very intimate setting. There are candle sconces on the walls and round light fixtures on the ceiling. The tables are all circular, with beige tablecloths and black chairs. Nico notes that all of the waiters and waitresses wear very tight clothing.

"This doubles as a burlesque place," Percy whispers in Nico's ear, "there's a reason we came here."

"Why's that?" Nico asks, but he doesn't get an answer because soon a girl is coming up to them with a smile on her face.

"Percy!" She beams, "ça va!" She kisses both his cheeks.

She has bright blue eyes and long, dark black hair that's wavy, her peach skin is blemish-free, and her smile is beautiful.

"Silena," Percy says, then turns to Nico, "this here is my husband," he beams at her.

"Don't tell me you got married and didn't invite me!" She talks in English before looking at Nico, a big smile on her face, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Silena Beauregard," she says, shaking Nico's hand.

"Hi, I'm Nico di Angelo, and don't worry, Percy's my fake husband," Nico teases, making Percy pout.

"He already wants to return me Silena," Percy laments, "can you believe my husband doesn't want me?"

"I do, and I can make sure he goes out with someone he won't try to get rid of," Silena jokes, elbowing Percy in the ribs.

"Stop trying to pawn my husband off to your friends," Percy complains good-naturedly.

"Let me know if you get tired of him," she continues, looking at Nico, "I'm serious, I have some very handsome friends."

Percy rolls his eyes as Nico shakes his head, "no, I think I'll stick around him for a while."

Percy smiles at Nico before looking over at Silena, "Nico's just helping me out with a con."

"You didn't want to ask me?" She teases.

"Silena helps me out with cons from time to time, most of the time playing my wife or girlfriend," Percy explains to Nico, "but not this time, I needed someone like Nico for this." Hearing that, Nico's ears burn, warmth coiling in the pit of his stomach.

"You know I'm only teasing," she smiles, "Percy and I are good friends."

"Very good friends, I've known Silena for about five years now?" Percy asks looking over at her.

"Seven," she corrects, "but I forgive you for forgetting."

"Silena, I need your help," Percy starts, while she rolls her eyes playfully.

"I knew you didn't just come here to visit."

"I need to sit near a certain someone, his name is Leonard Parker," as soon as Nico hears the name, he perks up, looking at Percy as he continues to talk with Silena. "Do you think you can get me a table next to him?"

"Oh, Leonard Parker, you mean the sleazeball who comes here almost every night and tries to take home one of the staff members? The one who brags about being CEO of a tech company?" Silena huffs.

"He's the one we're conning," Percy explains.

"Well, you should've started with that! Wait here and let me see what I can do," she says before disappearing.

Nico looks over at Percy, "um, so we're here to see Leonard?"

"Yes," Percy answers, "we're starting the con right now. Remember how I was out most of the night before, well I was tailing Leonard and his usual places to hang out. "

"What?!" Nico exclaims, "how did you- - shouldn't I- - practice some more? I mean what if I'm not ready, we just finished making the backstory not even forty minutes ago!"

"Nico, don't worry, you'll be fine," Percy assures him, rubbing his hands up and down Nico's arms.

"Percy what if I can't do this?" Nico asks, feeling anxious.

"You can, I believe in you, just trust me, you'll do great," Percy tries to calm him down.

"What if I mess up?" Nico rubs a hand down his face.

"Then I'll be there to smooth things over, look all you have to do is genuinely act like yourself, the rest will all work out."

"I don't know if I have as much blind faith as you," Nico mutters.

"Look at it this way, we're taking the training wheels off early, after this, you'll be conning in no time," Percy teases him, shaking his shoulders playfully.

Silena comes back to them with a smile on her face, "okay, I got you a table near Leonard, follow me."

They get seated at a table for two, with a small candle in the middle. Percy scoots his chair closer to Nico until Percy's shoulder is touching his. Percy leans close to whisper in his ear. The curtains on the stage open up and some girls come out and start to dance.

"Leonard Parker is to your right, here's what you're going to do. You're going to stay calm and just act like you usually do when I flirt with you," Percy winks at Nico, and that alone makes him flush. "Exactly like that, angel," he teases, a smirk on his face.

"Percy-" Nico begins.

"You're a natural, don't worry," Percy cuts in, taking Nico's hand in his, "we just have to act like we're in love," he strokes the wedding band on Nico's finger, looking at Nico tenderly.

Nico tenses up, looking down at the table, his anxiety getting to him, and fears of messing up begin to plague his mind. He looks to his right where Leonard is looking their way. He has short, cropped brown hair and light brown eyes. His pale skin has sort of a yellow undertone, and his lips are thin, his nose is narrow, with a slight bump in the middle. He looks slim, less muscular than Percy, that's for sure, and shorter too.

 _He isn't so bad looking..._ Nico thinks briefly. Leonard notices how close they're sitting, with Percy whispering in his ear, and smiles Nico's way.

Nico looks away quickly, feeling his cheeks burn. Percy lets out a strangled cry from the back of his throat, he looks at Nico fondly, before leaning close to his ear again.

"That was your chance. You're kind of terrible at this, we have our work cut out," he says, annoyed, but when he looks back at Nico, there's still a sweet look on his face.

_How did he sound kinda peeved but still able to look at me like that?!_

"New plan," Percy whispers, "I'm going to flirt with you, and you just need to react, can you do that for me, angel?"

"Yes," Nico flushes at hearing the nickname.

"That's it beautiful," Percy encourages, "look at how cute you are with those cheeks that get red so quickly."

Nico feels the blush creeping down his neck and up to his ears. "I just have really pale skin!" He says breathlessly, feeling shy.

"How sweet you are," Percy murmurs, kissing his hand, precisely where the ring is. "You taste as sweet as you look, you know?" The blush keeps growing, and Nico feels hot in the face. "When we kissed earlier," Percy kisses Nico's cheek, near his mouth, "you were the sweetest thing I've tasted in a long time."

Nico lets out a nervous laugh, shyly turning away from Percy, "yeah, right."

"No, angel, trust me, I couldn't get enough," Percy whispers breathlessly, "I wanted to devour you right then and there." Nico clears his throat, pulling at the collar of his shirt if only to get some relief from how hot he felt.

"It's working angel, you should see how Leonard's looking at you instead of the girls onstage, the way he _should_ look at you because you're amazing," Percy whispers before kissing Nico on the mouth. Dominating the kiss and leaving him breathless.

Percy turns Nico's head to look at the stage as the girls continue to dance, this time men are joining them onstage, getting some whistles from the crowd. Percy starts to kiss down Nico's neck, "do you have any idea what I'd give to see you up on that stage? Dancing _just_ for me, I'd focus only on you, I'd drink you in, watching every single move you'd make."

Nico lets out a breathless gasp, clutching Percy's hand in his, "Percy..." he whimpers.

"Yes, angel?" Percy coos, giving him another kiss, Nico moans into it, cupping Percy's cheek with his other hand.

The show ends and there's clapping around them but all Nico can focus on is the dark look that Percy's giving him, sending a tingle down his spine. Percy's breathing heavily, with his hand still clasping Nico's, squeezing it tight.

_That look in his eyes..._

And then his face changes completely, leaving Nico reeling.

"I think it worked," Percy whispers before a shadow falls across their table.

"Hi," Leonard greets them, looking at Percy before focusing on Nico, "my name is Leonard Parker." He holds out his hand for Percy to shake.

"I'm Percy Jackson," Percy introduces himself, shaking his hand, "this is my husband, Nico di Angelo-Jackson."

Nico shakes Leonard's hand, "hi," he says shyly.

"You guys are married, was it recent?" Leonard asks, a glint in his eyes that Nico doesn't like.

"Yes, we've been married for two months now," Percy answers proudly, kissing Nico's cheek, "it's been wonderful ever since."

"Congrats!" Leonard smiles at them, but it's sleazy and fake.

"Thank you," Nico smiles up at him.

"You seem kind of familiar," Leonard begins, rubbing his chin and looking over at Nico, "have you ever been on a tv show or extra on a movie?"

"Not that I know of," Nico smiles up at him, laughing softly.

"I guess you have one of those faces then," Leonard shrugs his shoulders before looking over at Percy, "I bet your husband must get that a lot."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it," Percy jokes.

"You two look very in love," he begins, "and you seem like great people I'd want to know, you can never have too many friends, right? I'd like to invite you out to dinner, what do you say?"

"That sounds great!" Percy smiles brightly, "we can get to know each other. It's been a month since Nico moved here from the states, he needs more friends, I feel like I leave him alone most of the time while I'm at work." Percy shakes his head.

Leonard quirks up an eyebrow, the glint in his eyes only growing, "really?"

"Yes, I'm fairly new to France, I'm still trying to learn the language and places around here. I'm not too familiar..." Nico supplies.

"Well, we can become great friends," Leonard smirks down at him, "let's meet at my favorite restaurant. Percy, here let me give you my number, you text me and I'll tell you when and where we're meeting."

"Sounds good," Percy smiles at Leonard, taking down his phone number on his cell and shooting a text.

"Great, well listen, it was nice meeting you two, we'll talk," he says, giving one last glance towards Nico and leaving the restaurant with someone else following after him.

Leaving the restaurant, Percy's in high spirits while Nico tries to slow down his fast-beating heart.

"That was amazing!" Percy says, turning to look at Nico, "did you see the way he looked at you, angel?"

"Yeah, I did," Nico rubs the back of his neck, "Percy, I'm sorry I messed up, I got nervous."

Percy walks closer to Nico, grabbing him by the shoulders, "don't even worry about it, you didn't do bad at all! I told you you'd be great and you were," his eyes flit all across Nico's face. "The rest will come to you a lot easier with practice."

Nico gives him a shy smile, "so we're still good?"

"Still good, still a team, and we'll only get stronger," Percy smiles at him, "come on, angel, we have a lot of work to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> Bonjour, comment allez-vous? - Hello/ Good morning, how are you? (formal)
> 
> nous sommes bien, merci - we are fine, thank you.
> 
> ça va - how are you? (informal)
> 
> Again, I know earlier in the chapter there was a heavy topic about ICE and deportation. I just want to say, I am Latinx and for a while, before my mom got her permanent resident status through me last year, I was very scared of her getting deported. It had been a fear of mine ever since Trump took office. I can rest a little easier now knowing that she's a permanent resident in the US but that fear is still very real for millions of families who are still undocumented. And there are thousands of children stuck in detention centers across America.
> 
> I usually like to stay political on social media and try not to bring it on my A/N's in my stories but I felt I needed to share this because it's a heavy topic that needs to be talked about, especially if it gets brought up in fiction. Below are some links which can take you to different donation sites.
> 
> Where you can donate:
> 
> https://www.lawyersforgoodgovernment.org/travel-fund-overview
> 
> https://supportkind.org/
> 
> https://immigrantfamiliestogether.com/
> 
> https://www.theyoungcenter.org/donate
> 
> https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kidsattheborder
> 
> That last one is for those with monetary means to donate but can't choose where to donate. The donations are divided up evenly to different foundations, some of which have been listed here, or you can choose to divide it up yourself.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading my story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here is another chapter. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO or QoT

Sneaking into the Louvre at night with Annabeth and Maya, Nico saw where he lacked. Annabeth moved with a cat-like grace through the museum at night, and Maya was quickly catching up. The first time they broke in with Leo, Maya had quickly written down what supplies they would need to make their forgery look the same, she had also brought a handheld round optical microscope twice the size of her hand, to study the painting. Now, they were here so that Nico could get the details down. Annabeth maintained an eye out for the guards, with Grover watching on the hacked security cameras.

It was a rush sneaking in with the possibility of getting caught. He felt his body come alive whenever they would do this, which had been almost every night in the past week. Percy still hadn't heard from Leonard yet, so Annabeth was seizing the moment to have Nico work on the painting as much as possible. Nico didn't mind though, because whenever they were here, he had his private viewing of the beautiful artworks.

Maya and Nico were quickly becoming friends, spending most of their time together when it wasn't being spent with Drew and Percy, respectively.

"Guards are switching shifts," Grover speaks in their earpiece, "if you want to leave, now would be your window."

"Nico, what do you think?" Annabeth asks him, "do you think you need more time or do you have most of the details down?"

"I think I have everything," he replies, "we're good to go."

"Alright, come on," she whispers and Maya and Nico follow after her.

Annabeth climbs on the rope that she tied behind a statue, towards the window they had come in. Nico was quickly beginning to gain some muscles after the nights spent climbing ropes in and out of windows, he grunted with effort, heaving himself up and slipping out, taking the rope with him. Annabeth quickly untied it from a column and the three made their way outside of the gardens and onto the streets of the city.

"I think the next painting I would like to take would be François Gérard's Cupid and Psyche," Annabeth comments, looking over at the pair. "Do you think you two would be up for that?"

"Oh my god," Maya gasps, "can you imagine having that painting? It's like a dream!"

"I'm up for it, I want to practice all of the little details I'd have to paint," Nico says.

"It's a deal then," Annabeth smiles at them, "we'll take the painting when it's one of our turns for picking the next heist."

Nico was quickly beginning to grow accustomed to the mornings with the gang, eating delicious breakfast with coffee, everyone cracking jokes, the feeling of being welcomed, included, and supported. It was different than what Nico was used to. Everybody was so sure about his and Maya's abilities, never once doubting them when it came to their work on the painting. Nico noticed that they were like that to each other, as well. It felt very refreshing and it just made Nico happier about his choice.

He was also getting to know more things about everyone. Drew liked her privacy, barely giving up anything about herself and never letting anyone in her room, but she was a big fan of jewelry and pretty things. Annabeth barely slept, always busy making plans for future heists, he could hear her pacing back and forth in her room during the middle of the night when he'd go to the kitchen. Reyna was also private but she talked about things she liked doing, like working out and reading. She and Leo would talk about her car a lot, with Leo making suggestions on mods that'd work best for her. He also noticed they were close friends, often going out together to work on her car.

Leo had very nimble fingers, working on very delicate explosives but those same hands also gave way to bold and vibrant art. Nico would sometimes catch Leo in the middle of working on his mural on one side of the wall, spray can in hand, dazzling streaks of red, yellow, and orange becoming more prominent. Nico was also getting used to seeing explosives next to the milk inside the fridge.

Percy was more sarcastic than Nico initially thought, and the banter between him, Grover, and Annabeth was fun to see. Percy liked to joke around and tease a lot, but he also played a role, even with the people who were supposedly closest to him. Percy played the role of the sarcastic, confident con man, but Nico knew that wasn't him all the time.

Grover loved skateboarding, with Percy joining him from time to time, and he loved nature which Nico didn't expect because he was mostly indoors a lot working on his computer. Maya had a very nice singing voice, she sang mostly to herself when she thought no one was around, but sometimes Nico would catch Drew looking at her fondly on more than one occasion.

It had only been a couple of days since Nico had been with them, but those were the best days he'd had in a while.

* * *

"Tell me that isn't the most gorgeous ruby bracelet you've ever seen!" Drew gushes to Maya, "and you know red is my color."

Maya hums in appreciation, "that's very pretty! So are we going to steal it tonight?"

"Yes," Drew smiles at her, "that way I can see your progress as well."

"I'm sure that's not the only thing you'd wanna see," Leo mutters under his breath but it's loud enough that Drew throws a wad of paper at his head.

"Hush you."

"Leo!" Grover shouts from the kitchen, "why do you have to put C4 right next to the butter, I almost got my hand blown off!"

"Explosives are delicate things!" Leo gripes, "would you like the penthouse to be blown to pieces?"

There are some grumbles from Grover with the door of the fridge slamming shut, before he comes out of the kitchen, "we seriously need to consider getting you a mini-fridge for your room."

Just as Leo follows Grover to his room, complaining about how he's been saying that for the past couple of years, Percy soon walks through the door of the penthouse, a big smile on his face, walking straight towards Nico.

"He called," Percy sits down next to Nico on the couch.

"What'd he say?" Nico asks, perking up.

"Dinner with him tonight at seven!" Percy claps his hands together before grabbing hold of Nico's, "we have to get you ready for tonight."

"What do you mean by that? Are we going _shopping_ again?" Nico smirks at him.

'Shopping' was Percy and Nico going into stores and stealing a couple of items of clothing. While Percy distracted the sales clerk, Nico stuffed the clothes away, and Grover watched their back by hacking into the store's security feed. Then there was the night time shopping Percy did on his own by sneaking into some boutiques and taking whatever he wanted.

Nico found that out on his second day with the Lotus, coming back from his nighttime break-in at the Louvre to Percy's bedroom and finding some clothes in bags that were for him. Percy specifically picking them out and leaving a note for Nico. It had also been the second time that Nico went to sleep in Percy's bed alone, he was beginning to realize that Percy didn't sleep a normal sleep schedule.

There had been underwear, shirts, pants, shorts, and other things that matched Nico to the 'T', though, how Percy knew his exact measurements, Nico didn't know but he was grateful that he had new clothes. Because he had been on the verge of leaving his New York apartment behind, a bunch of his stuff was mostly in storage but he had left a lot of things unpacked.

Percy laughs at Nico, "no, this is real shopping, I'll pay for this."

"Percy, you don't have to pay for anything, I have some clothes that could work..." Nico shakes his head, trying to dissuade him from spending money.

"If Percy's paying, _I'll_ go," Drew teases, her eyes twinkling with laughter.

"Ha, ha," Percy rolls his eyes at her, "I'm paying for Nico, _only_...maybe Maya, too."

"I can pay for Maya," Drew states quickly, getting up from the chaise, "come darling." She says, "let's get ready for tonight, we have to case the store." With that, Drew and Maya leave the way Percy came in.

"Nico," Percy begins, turning back to him, "trust me, you'll need a new outfit for the restaurant we're going to," Percy smirks at him, "besides, don't you want to impress our target?"

"Okay, you've got a point," Nico rolls his eyes playfully, "when are we going?"

"Well, it's noon right now, the dinner isn't until seven, we have some time, what do you say about role-playing?" Percy asks.

"As what?" Nico quirks an eyebrow.

"We could role-play like each other?" Percy suggests, "that way it'll be easier for you to morph into character later on."

"So I'll act like you and you act like me?" Nico asks.

"Exactly," Percy nods his head, "here, I'll start."

Soon enough, Percy morphs and the energy around him matches Nico's. It was incredible watching him make the switch, he carried himself the same way Nico did, crossing his arms over his chest and quirking up an eyebrow.

"Michaelangelo's statues of women should be considered a first offense, they look like he did a man's body, only adding the boobs later on. Space is way too far apart and they look like squished tomatoes," Percy's tone doesn't match Nico's exactly, but he says it in the same cadence as Nico would have.

"Hey that was great," Nico says in awe.

"Thank you, I try," Percy smirks at him, "now you can do me."

"Okay, well, it'll be nothing like how you did," Nico grunts, before pausing.

_What would be a thing that Percy would say?_

Nico thinks for a minute before a devious smile spreads across his face. He slings an arm around Percy's shoulders, bringing him closer against Nico, smirking at him in a way only Percy does.

"Don't you see angel," Nico tries to say in the same tone Percy would. Playful and flirty, "you're with the best con man in the world! You have nothing to worry about."

Percy barks out a loud laugh, shaking his head and it makes Nico smile, feeling proud he could make Percy laugh like that.

"Your French accent is a little off, but that was good, it's honestly something I would have said," Percy smiles at him. "Let's try doing some of the others. Do an impression of Leo."

Nico pauses, before smiling wide, trying to mimic Leo's smile. "Don't you know I'm the super-sized McShizzle? I'm the best of the best, better recognize!"

Percy laughs again, before raising a brow, reminiscent of Annabeth, and begins speaking in her cadence, "why of course you're the best of the best, the Lotus _only_ recruits the best."

"Hm, I don't know about Leo being the best," Nico begins, talking in the same tone Drew does, "I'm sure there's someone better," he purrs the last word.

"Are you kidding? Look at all this, you think someone else can fill my shoes?" Percy morphs into Leo, puffing up his chest the way only Leo does.

"Well, they'd be little shoes to fill anyway," Nico says, taking on a more southern accent, mimicking Grover.

"Would it help to know we got someone who wears the same shoe size as you?" Percy imitates Reyna's dry humor.

"You guys suck! I know I'm worth more than diamonds!" Nico pouts as Leo would.

"Now diamonds are much more fascinating to talk about than what shoe size Leo wears," Percy copies Drew, eyes half-lidded.

Nico laughs loudly, shaking his head, "this was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be."

"It's because you're a natural!" Percy chuckles, smiling at Nico, making him freeze. Percy's smile is so wide and warm, the kind of smile that lights up his eyes and heats Nico down to his core.

_This smile is very different than all of the ones he's given me before...this smile feels_ real.

"You think so?" Nico asks shyly.

"I know," Percy answers immediately, "every day you amaze me."

Nico can feel the warmth pooling in the pit of his stomach, hoping this feeling doesn't go away any time soon.

* * *

"Here, try this," Percy says, handing different sets of clothes to Nico.

So far, he had tried on four different pants and seven different shirts, but with each one, Nico found it wasn't completely right. He wanted something that would represent him but also something that would represent him as part of the Lotus.

"I don't know Percy, none of these feel right..." Nico mumbles, looking around the dressing room.

"Okay, I'm coming in," Percy says, Nico unlocking the door to let him inside.

Percy looks at the disarray around him, picking up some shirts and pants, hanging them up in pairs. There was a burgundy dress shirt that Percy paired with this dark gray blazer and the matching pants.

"What about this?" Percy asks, looking over at him.

"How come I didn't see that before?" Nico scratches the back of his head.

"You probably didn't see it clearly because I kept handing you clothes too fast," Percy shrugs his shoulders, "but try this on, and let's see how it looks."

"Okay, thanks," Nico looks over at him, a second passes by before he raises a brow at Percy, who hadn't left the changing room. "You staying in here while I change?"

"I do like making you squirm," Percy teases.

"So you'll ruin the big reveal for yourself?" Nico smirks at him.

"Well, when you put it that way," Percy smiles at him one more time before leaving.

After putting on the outfit, Nico looks at himself in the mirror, smiling softly. He finally looked like he belonged with the Lotus, this outfit felt perfect and it made him feel confident. The dark gray contrasted with the burgundy shirt while also bringing out his features nicely.

"You done yet?" Percy asks, impatient.

Nico rolls his eyes as he comes out, looking over at Percy who was leaning against the wall of the entrance to the changing rooms. Once Percy sees Nico he stands up straighter, his eyes widening in awe. For once, he has nothing smart or sarcastic to say, not even a flirtatious compliment, his mouth hangs open as he continues to look at Nico.

"What's that?" Nico asks, looking at what Percy was holding in his hands.

That seems to snap Percy out of his stupor and he quickly recovers, giving Nico a smirk. "It's a tie, figured you'd decide how you'd like your look to come together."

"Thanks," Nico says, reaching for the tie. His fingers brush against Percy's briefly, a spark shooting through him.

_It felt so warm..._ Nico feels himself blush and he turns away from Percy to the mirror that's in the dressing room, beginning to adjust the tie on him.

Once he's done, he turns to Percy, "what do you think?"

Percy rakes his eyes up and down Nico's form. _Why does it feel like he's undressing me with his eyes?_

"You look handsome," Percy answers honestly, a sigh leaving him before tearing his eyes away to look at Nico straight on.

"Thanks," Nico says sheepishly. _For a second I thought he was going to say something flirty, I don't think I could've handled it if he did..._

"It's perfect for tonight, once Leonard sees you in this..." Percy trails off, a contemplative look on his face, "he won't be able to resist you..." he finishes off but Nico thinks he doesn't sound too happy about that.

"Cool," Nico says, before loosening his tie, very aware of Percy following the motion. "I'm going to change back."

"I'll be at the counter paying for the clothes," Percy says but before he can get too far, Nico wraps his hand around Percy's arm, making him pause.

"Hey," Nico whispers, looking up at Percy through his lashes, "thanks Percy, for...everything."

Percy swallows thickly, "yeah, no problem."

* * *

"Okay, alarms are down, security feed is on a loop, just try to be quick," Grover says over the comm.

"Grover, as if I've ever been slow," Drew murmurs, "trust me mon chou."

"You get distracted easily with... _pretty_ things, you're like a cat," Grover says dryly.

"Maya's here to keep me focused," Drew purrs, tying a rope around her waist before grabbing Maya by the hips, tying her up too, their chests pressing together. "Isn't that right, little lamb?"

Hearing the pet name and being this close to Drew makes her head spin, feeling the blush on her cheeks make its way down her neck and up to her ears. It's not that Maya gets distracted easily, well, not usually but Drew was something else altogether. Never in the past had Maya reacted so strongly to anything someone said or did, she was always acutely aware of Drew.

Maya clears her throat before speaking, "yeah, of course. Anything you need."

Drew quirks up a brow, a sly smirk on her face, "anything?"

"Oh god," Grover groans over the earpiece, "please keep the flirting to a minimum, me and Leo are listening here."

"All the more reason to do it," Drew teases, "maybe then you two can pick up some new tricks. You know that saying about old dogs..."

"Well, I've never been _so_ insulted!" Leo gasps dramatically.

"Hang on tight to me, darling," Drew whispers in Maya's ear, "I don't want you falling."

"Okay," Maya mutters, wounding her right arm over Drew's shoulders while she placed her arm around Maya's waist.

Slowly they descend the rope, having found an opening through the attic of the shop. Their feet touch the floor, for a moment everything is quiet. Drew's body is tense and coiled, like a snake ready to strike and she looks around them to make sure they haven't triggered any alarms. Then, she relaxes, humming to herself as she walks around some cases where the jewelry is usually on display.

"Looks like the owner didn't want to risk leaving the bracelet out in the open, he must have a safe here," Drew says walking into the office of the shop.

Maya follows after her, watching as Drew looks behind a bookcase to see a safe hidden away.

"Bingo," Drew states proudly, "time to get me that ruby bracelet." She turns to Maya, "and don't worry little lamb, for coming along I have a little something for you. Now, come here," she beckons Maya.

"What's up?" Maya asks, coming to stand in front of her.

Drew reaches into her red cape and pulls out a small device with a little keypad, "this here is a little invention of Leo and Grover's, this can open a safe so long as it's a newer model. You're going to attach this part near the keypad of the safe and watch it work its magic.

"Got it," Maya says, taking the device from Drew and attaching it as she instructs.

As soon as the device turns on, it starts beeping softly, and the keypad of the safe beeps until it lets out three soft rings. Drew opens the safe, taking the device off and putting it back in her cape. Inside, they can see the ruby bracelet Drew had been eyeing along with different necklaces, rings, earrings, and chains. All showered in diamonds and gold and all of it completely organized.

"Wow," Maya stares in awe.

"Here," Drew reaches for two ruby earrings, the same color as the bracelet, and places them in her palms. "For you," she smiles at Maya who picks one up to study it closely, "now we can match."

Maya's brown eyes find Drew's and they stare at each other. Drew was a private person, and she liked to tease and play with Maya almost all the time but Maya knew that was all a ruse to not get too close to her. Maya knew she liked Drew and she wasn't going to make it easy on her who continued to keep Maya at a distance. This right here, felt the most sincere Drew's ever been.

"I'm glad," Maya smiles warmly at her, and Drew shudders in a breath before looking away.

Maya wasn't stupid, she knew she must look like a puppy following Drew around but she had a feeling that if she stuck around long enough, it was going to be worth it to get to know the real Drew. The one she kept locked away. Maya didn't like giving up on people, she was determined to show Drew she was always going to be there for her.

* * *

"Okay, we met at a gallery, I worked there and you were checking out a new artist that was debuting. We went on a date to a coffee shop, we never exchanged numbers you left for France, I stayed behind and three months later you found me in a park selling my paintings and we dated from there." Nico finishes, looking over at Percy. "Did I get it right?"

"We got married quickly and it's been perfect ever since," Percy teases Nico, "you're the perfect husband who's continuing with his career as an artist and I'm the workaholic husband who's a contractor. I spend too much time at work and I leave you alone a lot, that's the angle we're going for."

"Right, I've been living here for a month and have yet to make friends or have a social life," Nico agrees, "can't forget that. Am I missing anything?"

"Relax Nico," Percy tries to calm him down, "you're doing fine, we've got this."

"Maybe we should have role-played some more," Nico fidgets with the cuffs on his suit jacket.

They walk into a restaurant called Arpège, known for having three Michelin stars. The setting was very intimate, with low lighting all around, it gave the impression of privacy. The atmosphere was peaceful as if everyone was in their own little bubbles.

"You are going to be great," Percy whispers in his ear, "so relax."

They're led to a table where Leonard is, but they see that he's not alone. Leonard's sitting at the head of a table for five people, and on one side are a couple, already there and chatting with him. Percy grabs Nico's hand, twining their fingers as he walks over to Leonard.

"Percy, Nico," he looks over at the pair, "you made it. Allow me to introduce Josie and Alex Castillo, they're going to be joining us for dinner."

_Okay, this is kinda weird...why would he invite another couple here for dinner?_

"Hello," Percy puts on an open face, smiling, "pleased to meet you, I'm Percy Jackson and this is my husband, Nico di Angelo-Jackson."

"Hi," Nico says, shaking hands with them. They all exchanged greetings as a waiter comes to their table, asking how they'd like to start their drinks.

"So, Percy," Leonard begins, "you said you're a contractor?"

"Yes, I am, it keeps me very busy in the office though," Percy answers.

"Oh, so Nico, you get to have a lot of free time," Josie starts, smiling at him. Her hazel eyes twinkling, before turning to look at Alex, "I know if my husband spent so many hours away from me I don't think I could stand it."

Alex laughs, shaking his head, his brown curls moving slightly. His dark brown eyes look straight into Josie's, "well it's a good thing I'm not working too much. I'd miss you."

"We just got married recently," Josie begins.

"Oh, like Nico and Percy," Leonard smiles at them, his eyes glinting slightly.

"Yes," Nico begins, "about two months ago, and last month I finally moved here."

"Has it been hard to adjust?" Alex asks.

"A little, I don't know the language as well and I don't have many friends here," Nico answers, and he can feel Percy's hand on his, squeezing it lightly.

"I fear I might be leaving Nico alone too much," Percy says sadly.

"Alex was having that same problem, but he's made a couple of friends with some of my coworker's partners. The girls in my dance company all like to hang out most times," Josie explains, "give it time and you won't be alone so much!"

"Thanks," Nico says sheepishly.

"Josie worries about me," Alex begins, staring at Josie with a loving look.

"Of course I do babe!" Josie smiles warmly at him, "I want to make sure you're not alone when we're not together."

_This is bad...I think Leonard did this on purpose but for what? To test out which couple he wants to break up more? That's sick...but the thing is, these two are an actual couple not like me and Percy...if Leonard decides to pursue Josie, we lose the heist and they'll get broken up._

"We met in California, he had gone to a ballet recital from my old dance company, and in the after-party, we mingled and talked. It was love at first sight," Josie sighs dreamily, cupping Alex's face. "I knew then that I would always love this man."

"And I love you," Alex says softly, kissing the tips of Josie's fingers.

_These two are really in love and that...that can't be faked._

Nico looks over at Percy and sees a mask is in place, it's hard for Nico to get a read on him because Percy's so guarded. He's leaning back in his chair observing them all, his hand cupping his jaw, his finger rubbing his lips in contemplation.

_I have no idea what Percy's thinking, and he's not exactly giving me any hints. I don't know what to do next and we can't talk openly about it but...I can't let Leonard break Alex and Josie up. They’re in love and it's real and beautiful. I need Leonard to chase after me._

"So you're a dancer?" Nico asks, leaning towards Alex and Josie. "And what did you do Alex?"

"Well, I used to work in IT before following Josie to France but it's good that I did. I get to take a break and spend time with her exploring the world," Alex takes Josie's right hand in both of his.

"What do you do, Nico?" Josie asks, taking a sip of wine.

"I'm an artist, I used to work at an art gallery which is actually how Percy and I met, right?" Nico looks over at Percy, hoping to fake the emotion like Josie does when she talks about Alex but it doesn't come out the same way. It feels more hollow.

But Percy isn't paying too much attention, he just hums in agreement.

"Uh," Nico feels his face fall but he tries to keep his smile in place, "now I'm just mainly focusing on my art. I'm trying to debut."

"Oh, how exciting!" Josie gushes.

"Thank you," Nico smiles at her shyly, he catches the way Leonard looks at him.

Percy waves a waiter over, ordering a couple of dishes and saying it's for Nico, but he doesn't contribute much to the conversation. He just sips his wine as he continues to watch everyone else talk.

_What is he doing?!_

"So do you think you have a signature style yet?" Alex asks Nico, taking a bite out of his steak.

"I'm still figuring it out but that's part of the journey, I feel like my style will always change the more I grow and learn," Nico says, taking a sip of the drink Percy had ordered for him. It tastes delicious but it's a little hard for Nico to fully enjoy it.

"It's the same way with dancing, the more I continue to grow the more fluid and graceful my moves become," Josie smiles at him.

Nico laughs softly, "yeah, so I'm pretty excited about this new phase of my life especially now that I feel like things are finally going right for me." He looks over at Percy but he's still inattentive and a part of Nico feels kind of hurt.

It must show on his face because Leonard quirks up an eyebrow, looking at the two of them. It feels like the whole table can feel the mood drop a bit, and Josie and Alex try to continue the conversation. Percy meanwhile orders Nico truffles, chocolate macarons, Tarte Tatin, and Croquembouche. The whole time, he barely speaks a word to Alex, Josie, and Leonard. Only humming in agreement to whatever Nico was saying here and there, but he also barely gave Nico the time of day.

Dinner comes to an end and Percy quickly says goodbye before leaving, Nico looks after his retreating back and a knot forms in his throat.

_Did I do something wrong?_

"Nico," he looks to see Leonard placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Leonard, I'm so sorry, I don't know what's gotten into Percy-"

"It's fine," Leonard cuts him off, "don't worry about it. I'm more worried about you, if you ever need someone to talk, I'm here."

"Thank you," Nico smiles at him, before saying goodnight to Josie and Alex and leaving after Percy.

Exiting the restaurant he can see Percy with his hands in his pockets, pacing back and forth. Nico sighs deeply before marching over to him.

"Do you mind explaining what the hell was that back there?" Nico asks, annoyed.

"I fucked up," Percy mutters, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Okay..." Nico begins.

"I didn't expect him to invite another couple to compete with us," Percy starts, anger making itself known. "I should have prepared for that!"

"So what, you think the heist is over with?" Nico asks, watching Percy pace back and forth.

"I don't know," Percy replies and for once, he doesn't sound as confident as he usually does.

"If the heist falls through..." Nico begins, stepping closer to him, but he doesn't finish that thought... _what does that mean for me?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here's another chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, and QoT

It had been three days since the dinner date with Leonard and they hadn't heard from him since. During that time, Percy would go out and tail Leonard to see what he was up to. Whenever he was in the penthouse, he would pace back and forth going over everything they did and how they could have done it differently. No matter how much Nico tried to distract him, Percy wouldn't budge, so he decided to just let him be for now.

Nico had been busy working on the painting, first sketching from memory everything until he got it down right. Annabeth and Maya would help in case he missed anything. Then he'd try to blend in different colors from his own paint supply to match it exactly as the painting itself.

"Percy," Nico begins, not looking up from his sketchpad, "you're going to burn a hole on the floor."

Percy stops to throw a half-hearted glare at him before going to sit on the zebra chair, directly in front of Nico, "the first couple of days after we start are always the hardest for me. I can't seem to sit still sometimes."

"Hmph, that's an understatement," Grover smirks from the other side of the couch, typing away at his laptop.

"Shut up," Percy mutters before looking over at Nico, "well, we did what we could, now we just wait."

"Do you think I piqued his interest enough?" Nico asks, continuing to sketch. He knew Percy wasn't the only one who was nervous, so was Nico. This was his first job with the Lotus and if it went sideways, that wasn't going to give the impression he wanted.

"I don't know," Percy sighs, "but I do know that we had tough competition. Josie and Alex were actually in love and we couldn't fake that kind of affection."

"Is that why you were acting that way at the restaurant?" Nico questions, looking over at him.

"Yeah, I thought...we can't compete that way because if we did, it'd show where we lacked, so I had to act as if we had gotten into a fight." Percy explains, "again, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but we couldn't talk about it."

"Maybe we should come up with like a code for when things are going sideways and we need to change up the tactic," Nico suggests.

"I could tap my lips twice," Percy offers.

"We'll work on it," Nico says and laughs when he sees Percy pout.

Before Percy could begin to say a retort, Reyna and Leo walk inside, entering the penthouse with an armful of bags that they set in the middle of the living room.

"Surprise gifts for Nico," Leo begins, smirking at him.

"We found these when we went to check the mail for the fake address we gave Leonard," Reyna explains, "there's still more downstairs waiting in the lobby."

"More what? More gifts?" Nico asks, getting up and coming to look inside, seeing different clothes and accessories.

"A whole bunch. Maya and Drew are helping us bring up the rest," as soon as the words leave Leo's mouth, the pair come in with boxes.

"These smell like desserts or something," Maya mumbles, settling the rest down on the table.

"Whoa," Grover begins, closing his laptop, "lucky you Neeks, you gonna share?"

"No, I think I'll keep it all to myself," Nico teases, earning a poke from Grover as he opens the first box on top. "Hey, these are the truffles you got for me at dinner," Nico looks over at Percy, seeing the glint in his eyes as he comes closer.

"Not just that, but," Drew begins, coming back inside with a Croquembouche confection that's wrapped in see-through plastic, "there's also this. Now, you are sharing this."

"That's all for me too," Nico jokes as Drew sticks out her tongue.

"So he _was_ paying attention," Percy mutters to himself, coming to see all of the gifts Leonard sent Nico's way.

"What do you mean?" Nico looks over at him.

"I realized quickly I had to change tactics to be a foil to how lovey-dovey Josie and Alex were being but I also wanted to make sure he was paying attention to everything that was going on," Percy explains.

"Which is why you were ordering all those things for me," Nico starts, "you wanted to see if Leonard was keeping track of all the things I liked at the restaurant."

"Exactly, and this," Percy looks at everything, smiling victoriously, "proves it, the heist is back on!"

Nico smiles brightly at Percy, who mirrors it, giving Nico a small squeeze of his hands.

"Wait look," Maya begins, pulling out a white envelope in the middle of one the boxes containing the treats, "looks like he left this."

Nico takes the envelope from her, muttering thanks before opening it up. Inside was a small white card with crisp, clear writing.

_Dear Nico,_

_I'm so sorry dinner with Percy had been a bust. It looks like you guys are going through something._

_If you ever need to reach out to me, please don't hesitate, I'll be here for you._

_Here's my number, give me a call sometime._

_Leonard xo_

At the bottom of his signature is his phone number. Reading the note, Percy claps his hands together.

"This is it!" Percy exclaims, "we did it, Nico!" He takes Nico's hands, making Nico drop the note before spinning him around the living room.

"Someone's happy," Nico says, laughter bubbling out of him as he lets himself be spun around until they collapse together on the couch. He looks towards the others who are opening up some other boxes, peeking into the bags, and taking some truffles. "Let's see what else he got me."

"Well, I think I found my favorite one," Leo comments. The box he's looking at is left open and he quickly takes out the same champagne bottle Percy had ordered for Nico at dinner.

"Alright!" Grover cheers, "let's break out the champagne glasses!"

"Guys, it's noon," Maya laughs.

"That's no excuse, we drink when we want!" Leo boasts, "let's get Annabeth out here!"

"No need, with all of this ruckus, I came to see what was going on," the blonde comes to stand in the center of the living room. She looks over at Nico before smiling at him, "well done, I knew you and Percy could do it. I was never worried for a second."

Nico flushes at the praise, "thanks."

"Now, we just need to plan our next move," Percy begins. "You'll need to call Leonard so that you can set up a date with him."

"But," Drew interjects, "don't call him right away, you'll seem desperate. Leave him waiting a little bit as he left you."

"I was thinking the same thing," Percy smirks at her, "besides, we still need to perfect your role some more."

"In the meantime," Annabeth starts, "we do have the other mini heist I'm planning, and I'd like to get the supplies we need as soon as possible. I got word that everything is ready for us."

"So then, time to show the two newbies to the underbelly?" Leo teases, looking over at Maya and Nico.

"Underbelly?" Maya asks.

"Where else do you think we get all our supplies to help with our heists?" Grover ruffles Maya's head, "we can make some of it ourselves for sure, but some things we need to get."

"So when are we going?" Nico asks, looking to Annabeth, "are we going now?"

"Yes," she replies, "so get ready."

"Aww, and we were just about to open the champagne," Leo complains.

"Put it in the fridge, that way when we come back it'll be ice cold and delicious," Reyna suggests, making Leo perk up.

"That's a great idea!" He rushes off to the kitchen with the bottle in his hands.

"Wait," Grover begins, opening up more boxes, "what if there's more?"

"Come on little lamb," Drew murmurs, beckoning Maya, "we dress to the nines when we go down to the underbelly. Time to get your heist outfit on."

"No way, Maya," Nico begins, as she starts to go towards the hallway, "you got a heist outfit?"

"Of course," she smirks, raising a brow, "I gotta represent, right?"

"Come, Nico, let's get you ready too," Percy says, taking Nico's hand in his as the three of them walk through the hallway. Drew, who's already at her door, opens it, ushering Maya inside and Nico's eyes widen because he couldn't recall if that had ever happened before.

_Looks like Drew's slowly opening up._

From that little sneak peek he could get, Nico saw that she had a huge, lush bed with pastel pink sheets. There were a lot of different shades of pink and red. There was a vanity mirror near the bed, which was opposite to how Percy had his. There were also a lot of different plants hanging near the windows, but that was all he could see before the door was shut.

"Let's get ready," Percy pulls Nico inside his bedroom before shutting the door, "I'll take the bathroom, you can change here, let me know when you're done," Percy tells him, getting his clothes from his closet, before walking towards the bathroom and closing the door.

Nico looks at the clothes Percy had gotten for him that are hung in the closet and begins to change, all the while thrumming with energy.

* * *

Going down that maze that was the backstreets and long, winding alleyways, Nico thinks they're for sure lost, but Annabeth leads them through purposefully without faltering. Turning down one end before twisting down another, it amazes Nico how everyone could be so calm about this. Even Maya, with her black pants, black crop top, and black leather jacket looked cool and confident. Nico wanted to emulate just that.

Just when he thinks that they're going to go down another alleyway, Annabeth takes them down a darker, more narrow one which breaks off from all of the others. It's so narrow, they all trail behind each other, with Reyna going in last. Percy grabs hold of Nico's hand, bringing him closer to Percy as they make their way down. Soon enough, the alleyway opens up to a set of stairs that lead down. They're very old and somewhat crumbling but Nico thinks it adds character.

Soon, the stairs lead down an abandoned train station where there are different market stalls and vendors everywhere. It takes everything in Nico to not gape at all that he sees around him. There are plenty of shady looking people, and really scary ones too but when the Lotus enter, the chatter stops immediately. Everyone looks to them, Annabeth keeps an impassive face and Nico looks to see everyone else doing the same thing. Nico never thought he'd see the day where Leo wasn't joking or didn't have a smile on his face, but here he was, his features serious.

The atmosphere soon changes, and it seems like everyone is almost bowing as Annabeth passes by, they look to her almost reverently, whispering _Thief Queen_ under their breaths. The blonde walks with poise and grace as she makes her way from stall to stall, and the vendors all welcome her respectfully. There's a happiness to it when they speak to her, hanging on her every word or gesture. It was incredible to see the kind of influence she had.

But it wasn't just Annabeth, everyone seemed to be looking at the Lotus that way. Whispering not just about Annabeth, but about all of them, including Maya and Nico. Curious whispers followed him wherever Nico looked. Percy sticks close to him, having let go of his hand right before they entered but Nico had been too preoccupied to have noticed the lack of contact, now though, he misses it. He has half a mind to reach out for it but decides against it when his attention turns to a person approaching them. They're dressed flamboyantly, a stark contrast to the other people in the underbelly.

From where Nico could see, he saw green hair, the roots showing their natural dark hair color. They're wearing a pink dress shirt with a green bowtie, their suit is a more muted green but the belt is pastel pink. They come to stand in front of Annabeth, smiling at the group.

"Alex," Annabeth smirks at them.

"Hello Annabeth," Alex begins before looking at each of them, "Percy, Leo, Reyna, Grover, Drew and...I see we have two newcomers."

"Yes, this is Maya and Nico," Annabeth introduces them to Alex before turning to the pair, "this is Alex Fierro, our informant among other things but most importantly, a friend."

"Nice to meet you," Alex says.

"Alex, your dress style evolved a little while we were away in Belgium," Drew begins, "you look charming darling."

"I see you took my advice on the green bowtie," Grover begins as they make their way through the market, and Nico notices the chatter has resumed.

"I don't know why, she's always had a great sense of style," Drew murmurs, "but it does look amazing."

"Grover just gets me," Alex begins, smiling, "he knew exactly what I was looking for."

"Maybe you can get a pink one next," Grover bumps Alex's shoulder playfully.

"That's definitely on my list, but I didn't come here to talk fashion," Alex says looking over at Annabeth, "everything you need is ready for you, Thief Queen," she smirks when Annabeth frowns.

"I will never get over that hideous nickname," the blonde mutters under her breath, "but thank you, Alex, for gathering the supplies on such short notice."

"Yes, well, the Stolls certainly work fast," Alex says before coming over to whisper something in Annabeth's ear. Once she's done, she looks back at the group, "until next time, Lotus," she looks over at Nico and Maya, "again, it was a pleasure meeting you two."

"Wait, Alex," Leo calls out, "come on, when are we going on a date?"

"Alex please," Grover begins, "if you go out with Leo we'll never hear the end of it."

"Don't worry about that Grover," Alex shakes her head before smirking at Leo, "I believe I told you I go for blonds."

"What if I dyed my hair?"

"I like you better with black hair, it suits you, but we'll see," Alex teases before leaving the way she came.

They continue to walk some more when Annabeth stops at a stall where she rings the little bell that's on the counter. Soon enough, two identical-looking brothers come out from the back, wearing matching, mischievous smiles. The kind that said they were up to no good. Nico would have mistaken them for twins if it wasn't for the differences in their faces, one looked slightly older than the other. It wasn't by much but it was enough for him to notice.

"Well, if it isn't the Thief Queen," one brother begins, the taller and older-looking of the two, and Nico presumes he's the oldest.

"Come to grace us with your presence?" The shorter brother picks up where the other left off.

"Not just you, but the Gilded Lotus as well," the taller one says, putting his hands in his pockets.

"With two new members, how exciting," the shorter one comes a bit closer, inspecting both Nico and Maya critically.

"Travis," Annabeth begins, looking at the taller brother, "Connor. I believe you two have what I asked for ready?"

"Of course, Thief Queen," Connor winks at her teasingly, before bending down behind the stall and bringing something wrapped in black cloth out. "Here's the canvas, exact measurements as you ordered."

"And here are the supplies needed to get everything to look exactly the same," Travis says from the back before returning with a bag in hand.

"Thank you boys," Annabeth smiles, as Leo starts to grab the bag, "a speedy delivery as usual. What would we do without you?"

"It's why we're the best in the business," Travis smirks.

"No one can beat us," Connor says, matching his brother.

"Until next time," Annabeth says, before spinning on her heel and walking back the way they had come from.

"Hey," Grover whispers, sidling up to Nico, "I got you this phone."

Nico looks down at the phone Grover just handed him. It's an old Nokia phone from back in 2002.

"Thanks, but why?" Nico asks, "I already have my own."

"It's to be able to call your parents without coming to my room. It's an old phone so it'll be harder to trace, not to mention, easily disposable. Figured it'd be better trashing this phone instead of your iPhone," Grover shrugs.

"Thanks, man," Nico smiles over at him.

"Don't mention it," with that, Grover goes back to walk alongside Leo.

He's so distracted looking at the phone that it isn't until he feels Percy's hand encircling his wrist that he looks up and notices the commotion around them. Percy pulls Nico against him, throwing a protective arm around Nico. There are people screaming and getting out of the way of a man pushing past and running straight for them! His eyes are dead-set on Annabeth, but before he can even get close, Reyna steps in, shielding Annabeth behind her.

Nico didn't even notice the knife in the man's hand until he sees Reyna wrenching it out of her shoulder. With barely even a grimace, she takes out a pair of brass knuckles and punches the man several times, in quick succession. Right before he passes out, Reyna holds him by the scruff of his collar.

"Who sent you?" She snarls, and it's the first time Nico's seen her as livid as she is now.

The man, who looks as if he's barely breathing let alone conscious whispers, "Luke Castellan," before passing out.

Dropping him like a sack, Reyna goes over to Annabeth who minutely shakes her head. The whole underbelly is quiet, no one daring to say a word, let alone breathe. The tension in the air is stifling and all eyes are on Annabeth. There's a calculating gleam in her eyes as she assesses the situation. A mask is in place, her features not betraying a single emotion or thought outward. The Lotus are all standing stiff and straight, poker faces on each of them and Nico tries his best to keep his knees from shaking. The only hint that this is really happening and it's not a dream is the fact that Maya trembles slightly while Drew holds her hand, standing in front of her protectively.

"To Luke Castellan's men," she begins, standing straighter, confident, "let him know he failed. Next time he wants to come at me, he should be a man and do it himself."

With that, Annabeth continues on her way, the rest of the Lotus following after and looking straight ahead. No one daring to spare a glance around them.

* * *

Once inside the penthouse, it's another matter entirely. Reyna's bleeding profusely and Annabeth is pacing back and forth in the living room, it's the first time Nico's seen her so agitated, usually, she's so composed, in control. There are cracks in her mask that reveal exactly how she feels about the situation and Nico can tell that Annabeth not having that control, only serves to further unnerve her.

Maya has fished out the first aid kit in the kitchen and has already begun to disinfect the wound on Reyna.

"It isn't so deep but you'll need stitches," she murmurs while pouring some alcohol on the cut.

Reyna grits her teeth, "not my first time, kid."

"I could stitch you up," Maya offers, "my dad's a surgeon. He taught me and my brother how to stitch as we got older, said we needed at least some basics in medical care."

"Well, you're just a delightful surprise," Drew teases, trying to lighten the mood.

Everyone was concerned, and the air inside was suffocating.

"You didn't need to do that," Annabeth finally says, at last, coming to stand in front of Reyna. "I could have handled it myself."

"I'm the muscle for a reason," Reyna replies but soon hisses in pain as she feels Maya start the process.

"And now you're hurt," Annabeth snaps.

"It could have been you," Percy begins, coming up behind the blonde and rubbing her shoulders. "Reyna just did what she was hired to do, which is keep you safe."

"Keep _us_ safe," Annabeth corrects, "but still, I know I could have handled it."

"No one's saying you couldn't," Grover says.

"I know that too, it's just..." Annabeth sighs, coming to kneel before Reyna and looking up at her.

_Is that fondness I see in her eyes?_

"Thank you, I appreciate what you did for me back there," Annabeth whispers and Reyna gives a small smile in acknowledgment while Grover and Percy give each other knowing looks, but otherwise, stay silent.

"Luke is going to pay for this, mark my words," Annabeth mutters, mostly to herself as she gets up to pace once more.

"Done," Maya says, dressing the wound in gauze before handing Reyna a water bottle, "keep off the shoulder, later on, we'll change the bandage again before going to sleep. Try not to put so much pressure on it and you should eat something because you lost a lot of blood."

"So you're an artist, art forger and now doctor," Leo begins, his voice light, "what other tricks you have up your sleeves, Maya?"

"I guess we'll see when we get there," Maya smirks

"Thanks, Maya," Reyna grunts as Leo helps her up from her seat.

"Yes," Annabeth begins, and maybe it's Nico imagination but she almost sounds out of breath, relieved even, "I can't thank you enough, helping patch Reyna up. And I'm sorry both you and Nico," she looks over at him, "had to see that but it's to be expected in our line of work. Although you both handled yourselves extremely well under the circumstances."

"Don't worry about it," Maya says, packing away the medical supplies, "my dad always said in situations like this, it's always better to keep a cool head."

"How did you learn to stitch?" Nico asks.

"My dad taught me and my brother, we would practice on the outside of a banana," Maya replies, "and he taught us CPR, basic first aid, and other things, like how to set a dislocation. It was an annual thing too, he'd have us do a refresher, especially when we had gone away to college and were only visiting. He said you'd never know when it'd come in handy."

"And it certainly did here," Drew mutters.

"Again, thank you, Maya," Annabeth says gratefully.

"Oh, really..." Maya dismisses it, unable to take the compliment without blushing.

Annabeth smiles softly, understanding silently that Maya didn't really like it when the spotlight was on her.

"Well, today was eventful," she starts, "I feel like we should resume tomorrow, once we've had a day to rest. Nico, Maya," she looks at them, "I expect you both up and early so that we can begin the forgery."

"Yes," Maya agrees, before going into the kitchen to put away the kit.

"Sounds good," Nico replies.

With that, the blonde leaves, Grover trailing behind her but she doesn't enter her room, instead, together they leave for Grover's room. Talking in hushed tones until the door closes.

_I bet she's looking for a way to track this Luke guy..._

He hears Leo talking to Victoria, who's meowing incessantly in the hall, asking her if she wants to be at Reyna's bedside to keep her safe. She meows once the door is opened for her and then he hears another door opening and closing. Right as Maya returns, Drew stands and ushers her down the hall to her room and next thing Nico knows, he's alone with Percy.

Percy walks closer to Nico, coming to stand in front of him, grabbing his hands and rubbing soothing circles, "how are you feeling?" He asks softly.

"Honestly?" Nico looks up at him, through his lashes, "pretty shaken up, that was scary. I thought...I thought something was going to happen to Annabeth...to Reyna..." he trails off, looking away.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Percy murmurs, squeezing Nico's hand.

"It's like Annabeth said...I'm guessing this isn't uncommon?" Nico asks.

"No, Reyna's taken some hits for us, but...this is the first time Luke actually tries to attack Annabeth head-on," Percy mumbles.

"Who is Luke Castellan anyway?" Nico looks back up at Percy, studying him closely, waiting to see if he'd get some answers. If he wasn't, Nico was going to annoy Percy so much...

Percy gazes down at Nico, his eyes searching for something and Nico guesses he must have seen something in his face because Percy lets out a sigh of defeat.

"You're not letting this go, are you?" Percy questions Nico, who merely shakes his head, making Percy huff. "Luke Castellan is a rival of Annabeth's, has been for a long, long time. He's one of the last remaining sons of the Castellan mobster family in France, Hermes Castellan has one other son, and rumor has it Luke is a disgrace to the family. Lost his title of next in line to his younger brother after it was discovered he was working against his father with another gang."

"So how are he and Annabeth even rivals?" Nico asks confusion lacing his voice.

"Luke is also in the business of stealing like us," Percy explains, "but he doesn't exactly have Annabeth's...finesse for pulling off such impossible heists. We steal because we like art and all other beautiful things, we never sell anything we steal but Luke steals just to sell on the black market. He has an appreciation for the arts but he appreciates money more. At the end of the day, Luke is envious of Annabeth, and once she started making a name for herself and us, coming from nothing and overshadowing him even though he had all the connections, well...he didn't exactly like that."

"So now, there's bad blood between them, but Annabeth couldn't care less about him," Nico surmises.

"You're sharp," Percy smiles ruefully down at Nico, "yeah, Annabeth doesn't give a rats ass about Luke and he hated it. So, to try to get her to give a damn, he began plotting to have her killed. It's why we needed someone like Reyna in our group. Luke's a loose cannon sometimes, he's smart no doubt but he's no Annabeth."

Nico shakes his head, "yeah that's true, and I'm pretty sure when Annabeth hits him, she's gonna hit him hard."

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Percy chuckles mirthlessly, "but enough with the heavy, we still have some training to do."

"Like what? I thought I had my act pretty much down..." Nico asks.

"Oh yeah, you do, but it wouldn't be bad to try out different roles. Besides, it's not just the con you gotta learn, it's also picking pockets and locks. Are you ready?" Percy looks over at him, the look in his eyes challenging as if daring Nico to back down.

"Hell yeah," Nico replies, excitement coursing through him.

* * *

"To pickpocket, it's actually pretty easy, because you don't have to be fast, you just have to be smooth. A good distraction goes a long way," Percy explains as they walk past stores on the avenue of Champs-Élysées. He soon pauses, bringing Nico off to the side, "you have to get up close and personal to the person you want to pickpocket," as Percy talks, he brings Nico closer towards him.

Nico looks up at Percy, feeling his hand at his wrist while the other snaked its way across his waist.

_I know what he's trying to do, I can almost see it happening...but damn it if it isn't working._

"There's a lot of ways of doing that, but the easiest way and the one to not alert the person you're targeting that anything is wrong is to be able to get them to trust you," Percy abruptly steps back from Nico, leaving him to catch his breath.

"Did you notice I took your watch?" Percy asks him, smirking Nico's way once he looks down to see that his watch was gone.

"How did you-" Nico begins before patting his back pocket, "and you took my wallet too," he looks over at Percy.

Percy gives him a cheeky grin, "I could have taken your phone too, but I decided to give you a break."

"How gracious of you," Nico deadpans, rolling his eyes as he walks over to Percy. "Okay, how did you do that?"

"The watch was simple, all I needed to do was grasp your wrist, the rest, I did with my thumb. As for your wallet, you stuck it deep in your pocket, so I had to drag you closer to me so you wouldn't feel me lifting it," Percy explains.

"Okay, show me."

"When you want to lift someone's wallet, you've gotta first case your target. If the wallet's in too deep, it's not worth lifting. Wallets and cell phones that are easily visible are the best. All you'd need to do to lift them would be a small bump in a crowded train or place, but it's also about putting someone at ease when you're face to face with them."

Percy stands in front of Nico, "you use two fingers, your index and middle fingers to grab hold of the item you want to take. You've gotta time the moment in with the distraction so that your target doesn't suspect a thing. That small bump could mean the difference between getting lucky or getting caught."

"Okay," Nico nods his head, "let me try."

Percy steps back and lets Nico try to lift his wallet a couple of times. Once he has it down, Percy moves on to explain how to take someone's watch. Then, he starts teaching Nico how to pick locks. With what had happened earlier and all of the new things he was learning, Nico didn't even notice how dark it had become. They had had a late lunch and Nico didn't think he'd have room for dinner. It was so late out, he didn't think a restaurant would even be open anyways, most of the shops had closed.

"I know I messed up a couple of times but I think I got a little better," Nico looks over at Percy.

"You picked it up a lot faster, give it more practice and you'll be more than fine," Percy smiles over at him. "Hey, I have an idea."

Nico follows him down a street that's mostly deserted at this time of night. Percy goes up to the door of this bakery shop and starts to pick the lock before stopping, turning towards Nico.

"Why don't you pick it?" He pushes his tool for lock-picking into Nico's hands.

"A-are you sure?" Nico asks, uncertain, nerves entering his stomach.

"How else are you going to get better?" Percy raises a brow, stepping aside and letting Nico take over.

Nico steps up to the door, and using the same technique Percy taught him, begins to pick the lock. It takes a while, a lot longer than Percy would have taken but he finally gets the door open, and Percy whistles in appreciation, smiling wide at Nico.

"I told you you could do it," he smiles at him.

"Thanks for your vote of confidence," Nico mutters, closing the door behind him.

"You should be confident in your abilities Nico, even if they're not as smooth as me, with time you'll get there. In the meantime, fake it till you make it."

"I'll keep that in mind, but what are we doing at this bakery shop anyway?" Nico asks, coming to stand beside Percy.

"I figured since we skipped dinner, we could eat some dessert."

"What are we baking?"

"A favorite recipe of mine," Percy smiles at him, going over to the kitchen and beginning to take out some things.

"What can I do to help?" Nico asks.

"Oh no," Percy shakes his head, "you're going to sit there and let me bake this, besides, I want it to be a surprise."

With that, Percy sets to work and Nico watches him from his place behind the counter, trying hard not to think that this is a sight he could get used to. They make idle chit chat as Percy continues with what he's doing, it isn't long before Nico guesses Percy's making chocolate chip cookies and they're set in the oven to bake. While waiting, Nico eyes Percy toying with a necklace he's kept hidden, one Nico hasn't seen before.

_Is that a trident?_

"I like your necklace," Nico comments, and Percy's movements freeze, making Nico quirk up a brow at his reaction.

"Thanks," he says a little strained before resuming toying with it.

"Where'd you get it?"

Percy stays silent for a long time, and Nico thinks he isn't going to answer him when finally, Percy lets out a sigh.

"It was my father's, it's the first thing I ever stole successfully and it's the one thing I've kept from him after he kicked me out."

Nico's eyebrows furrow at the revelation, "wait, you got kicked out? As in, you lived in the streets?"

"Yes," Percy answers, looking down at the floor, transported somewhere Nico can't reach him. "He thought I was a troubled kid because it was always finding me one way or another, finally one day, he'd had enough and kicked me out. Told me I was a bad influence on my younger brother. It was hard, being on my own at first but eventually, I had found someone who took me in and taught me the ways of pickpocketing and helped me "refine" my lock-picking."

Percy lets out a low laugh, "I thought I did just fine on my own especially having learned by myself."

Nico inches closer to Percy, but he doesn't notice, too lost in his memories.

"He was my mentor and for a while, I was happy again..." Percy smiles softly until slowly, that smile slips off. "Until one day, I came back to his place and he was gone. It was like he had disappeared without a trace...I searched everywhere for him but I never did find him."

"I'm sorry," Nico murmurs softly, grabbing Percy's hand and squeezing it, letting Percy know he was here for him.

Percy smiles at him gratefully, "after my mentor had left, I snuck in my dad's house and stole this necklace. It had been a gift from my mother to him..." his eyebrows furrow, and Nico can tell this is a sore subject for Percy. "He didn't deserve to keep it so I took it."

Nico stands closer to Percy, reaching over to touch the necklace. His fingers brush against Percy's, who's still playing with it, and he can hear the sharp intake of breath from him, as Nico continues to toy with it.

"It's beautiful, look at the craftsmanship of this necklace," Nico mutters lowly, and Percy looks down at him. Looking at Nico with an expression he can't read, but it's intense. Burning Nico up from the inside out and not in a particularly bad way.

_I can't help it...I want to touch his skin so badly...just want to feel how soft it is, I'm so close..._

"Thanks," Percy's voice shakes slightly, he clears his throat while Nico continues to play with the necklace. "I was alone for six months before Annabeth and I found each other, after that, we were inseparable."

Nico smiles softly, "and so the Gilded Lotus was formed."

"Now that, is one epic story," Percy laughs.

"You know I also wanted to ask how you got these rings of ours?" Nico chuckles, looking up at Percy through his lashes.

Percy sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck, "I was watching these two guys for a while-"

"Are you cheating on me?" Nico teases.

"I'd never cheat on my husband, faithful and loyal to the end," Percy crosses his heart, smiling down at Nico.

"Unless it's for a con," Nico quirks an eyebrow.

"Well, can't be cheating if my husband helps me."

"So you were watching these two guys, ya creeper," Nico jokes.

"Why are you so mean to me, husband?"

"I gotta bring you down a peg, don't want your ego getting too big," Nico laughs when he sees Percy pout.

"Anyway, these two would always be at the Pont Alexandre bridge at a certain time," Percy continues.

"Let me guess, around the time you took me that first time?"

"Sharp as ever, husband," Percy laughs as Nico rolls his eyes, "so I just had to time my distractions when I lifted their rings. The one I bumped into had the ring hanging loose on his finger. The other one actually had his ring in front of him, I think he was planning a divorce," Percy shakes his head solemnly.

"You're a tricky guy, Percy."

"And you're a..." Percy trails off, looking at Nico, his eyes flitting all across his face before settling on his lips, "...very nice surprise."

They stare at each other, stuck frozen with neither one knowing where to go from there. Percy still felt so far away to Nico, even though little by little he seemed to be getting closer. Something told Nico that Percy kept him at a distance on purpose.

"So, I see blue food coloring dye," Nico begins, looking up at Percy, his hand still caressing the necklace. "Am I right in guessing the cookies are going to be blue, too?"

"Right on the nose," Percy chuckles, "it was a tradition between me and my mom," at this, Percy gets sad and Nico almost asks Percy about her but stops. Right now, it seemed like it wasn't the right time for that.

_So Percy stole his dad's necklace which was a gift from his mother and he likes blue chocolate chip cookies. It's something that's special to him._

Nico notices how close he and Percy are. It feels warm and nice, and maybe it's Nico's imagination but Percy's looking at him as if he wants to kiss Nico, which in all honesty, Nico wouldn't mind.

He looks up at Percy, holding his gaze, hands still on Percy's necklace. They're only a few inches apart, it would be _so_ easy to just close that distance...

Percy exhales deeply, before slowly backing away from Nico.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here's another chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, or QoT

_Every time I think I'm getting closer to Percy, closer to knowing the real him, he closes me off. It's like I take one step forward, two steps back._

Nico huffs silently, stewing in bed.

He had woken up to find Percy's side of the bed empty again. Lately, that's all Nico ever finds when he wakes up. He shakes off the feeling of dismay creeping in, and decides now is as a good a time as any to write in his sketchbook. He turns to the page where he has a list of things that are real about Percy.

_If he ever finds this I'm going to look like the only creep..._

He shakes that thought out of his head.

_But this seems like the only proof I have that I'm getting to know him...the real him._

The question that kept haunting Nico's dreams was always the same. Why was Percy keeping him at a distance?

Although he was sure something had become different around them ever since the night at the bakery shop. Percy didn't stop in his flirtations but now it felt like they had a ring of truth surrounding them. Not just that, but Percy had gotten more comfortable touching Nico so casually. Before, he was very cautious of where his hands landed on Nico, but it was like that night gave Percy the extra push he needed from Nico to let him know that it was okay to touch where he wanted to touch Nico. He was still respectful though, which only made the yearning that Nico was feeling intensify.

He was yearning...but yearning for what, exactly?

_He's still pulling back whenever I get too close!_

Nico felt like he was going in circles over and over without amounting to much of an answer as to why it sometimes felt so easy to be around Percy, but then other times it felt like pulling teeth just to get a straight answer. He was also starting to feel claustrophobic just sitting around in the bedroom.

_Wait, why am I even thinking about this? Why do I want to start getting close to Percy? Why am I-_

Nico cuts himself off, going very still. He needed to stop where that train of thought was going because he couldn't even begin to wonder about the implications of that. About the possibility of him falling for Percy.

_That would make me the biggest idiot on Earth...I'm not even going to go there!_

They had made a list of things that would be okay, but Nico was wondering if maybe they needed to shorten that list. It was becoming increasingly impossible to control himself around Percy. There was no way he was going to fall for the con itself.

_Now that would just be pathetic._

Nico groans, rubbing a hand down his face. Self-deprecation wasn't something he'd meant to do. That just reminded Nico of all the times Percy said he believed in Nico, never once wavering in his confidence that Nico wouldn't fail. It was actually doing wonders for his self-esteem all of the support he was receiving. It felt really good, and on top of the flirtations, well, Nico was feeling more than flattered whenever he was with Percy.

_Okay, so, maybe it's not so...weird that I think I'm-_

Nico stops himself, a part of him still hesitant to accept what his heart already knows.

_I shouldn't even be thinking about this, I need to focus on the painting!_

Heaving a sigh, Nico quickly changes into jeans and a t-shirt and makes his way out into the living room. He sees Annabeth near the small table cart between the fireplace and the couch. Over his stay with the Lotus, Nico came to find out that that cart contained the ingredients to a special tea Annabeth made that no one was allowed to touch. He wonders briefly how Annabeth came to land in France since he found out she was originally from Russia.

Having brought his sketchpad with him, he comes to sit down on the brown armchair, curling his legs and trying to leave thoughts of Percy behind.

_Easier said than done._

Shaking his head to empty his mind, he begins to turn to a page that's free and gets set to work. It had been two days since the incident that happened in the underbelly. Reyna was recovering, her shoulder was still sore and in pain but it was healing nicely, and Annabeth had been working with Grover relentlessly. There were nights where Nico wouldn't hear a peep from her room because she had been out tracking Luke's haunts. Every time, she came back looking more tired than when she left, though she barely slept. Nico didn't know if it was pride or force of will alone that Annabeth was still upright because if that was him, he'd have knocked out a lot sooner.

The day after the incident, they had begun work on the painting, with Maya directing Nico on which coats and bases to use when beginning work on the canvas. She also gave him tips on how to make the colors match exactly so that nothing looked wrong on the forgery. All three of them decided that it would be fun to add a little addition to the fake though, so as they worked on it, Nico would eventually add little Lotus flowers across La Belle's headpiece. So far, the base had been done and set to dry, with Maya watching over it so that they could age it correctly. She had been experimenting with a couple of ways to age different canvases so that the craquelure would come out just right. So far, it had been going the way she had planned.

They had also made progress with Leonard, having waited before contacting him so that Nico wouldn't come off as desperate. They had set a date for later on today to meet for a late lunch date, but Nico was feeling a little nervous about everything.

_I really hope I don't mess up...wait no, I gotta stop thinking like that! I got this, it'll be a piece of cake._

Nico's train of thought came to a stop when he realized that he had been sketching Percy from memory. The way he looked in the mornings while he was out on the roof of the penthouse, a cup of coffee in his hands as he watched the view of all of France.

_Not even in my drawings can I get Percy out of my mind!_

He groans out loud in frustration making Annabeth quirk up an eyebrow at him from over her book.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She asks him, bookmarking her page before closing her book.

"It's nothing..." Nico mutters.

"Try me," Annabeth says, almost challengingly.

Nico's eyes flit over to her, "Percy confuses me sometimes."

"Hmm, that's understandable."

"I feel...like no matter how hard I try, I'm not getting any closer to Percy. Closer to knowing who he is and how he became the person he is now..."

Annabeth hums in contemplation, "we all have our histories tucked away. It's not easy for us to share so much because it's been so long that we've been closed off from other people. It's difficult letting someone in."

"So, what should I do?"

"What do you think you should do?"

"I know what I want, so I'm not giving up."

"I don't think you should."

"I just don't know where to begin with Percy, just when I think I've got him figured out, he dances out of reach before I can fully get a grasp on him."

"What will you do about that?"

Nico stops to think, _the only way to beat a con man would be to beat him at his own game..._

"I'm not too sure, but I know I'll figure something out."

"I can't wait to see what you come up with."

_Figures I wouldn't get a straight answer from Ms. Mastermind with her turning the tables on me to make me think...it actually helped a little._

They share a smile in the quiet of the morning, and somehow, Nico feels better.

* * *

"I need to make sure that you're able to read Leonard's body language," Percy says.

Around noon was when Percy finally made an appearance. By then, Nico had been alone in the penthouse. Leo and Reyna were busy working on her car, Drew and Maya were working on getting some more supplies for the painting, and Annabeth and Grover were busy getting information on the whereabouts of Luke. Nico had been busy making sure the painting was drying correctly in the temperature Maya had told him to dry it when Percy walked inside the living room.

When Nico had asked where he had been all morning, Percy had said he was busy tailing Leonard to make sure he didn't have any more surprises up his sleeve for the late lunch date between him and Nico.

"Okay, teach away, master," Nico smirks over at him, making Percy freeze for a moment before recovering from his shock.

"You calling me that doesn't sound half-bad," Percy gives him a sly smile.

"Are you going to teach me to read a target's body language or are you going to flirt?"

"I'm very adept at doing both."

Nico rolls his eyes at Percy, "any day now."

Percy chuckles before growing serious, "to reel in a target, it's all about giving them the right cues. A flirty smile here, a touch there, a tilt of your head, it's all about being as inviting as you can be. You want your target to know that you're interested, but with Leonard, we can't make it too easy."

In the blink of an eye, Percy's posture changes completely, slipping on his version of Nico. He's standing straight, like Nico with his shoulders back but his stance is open, reserved but not unwelcoming.

"Is that really how I stand?" Nico snorts, shaking his head at Percy.

"Don't you, my angel?" Percy quirks up an eyebrow at him, "look closely. You stand straight and broad, with your shoulders back but relaxed. You're comfortable in the way you're holding your body. Confident, but not vain. You stand in the back of a crowd...not because you're shy, but because you're too busy observing everyone. You've got sharp eyes and an even sharper mind. I've noticed that more and more, especially that night on the bridge."

Nico swallows hard, looking up at Percy. _So Percy's been watching me...wonder what he'd make of it if I were to tell Percy how much I observe him._

"I saw the way you watched what I was doing, some part of you had a faint idea but you didn't yet put the pieces together. That doesn't mean that you don't grasp things quickly, once everything falls into place, you can see things for what they really are."

_I didn't think Percy had been paying this much attention to me..._

Nico was feeling a little exposed, and some part of him wondered that if Percy watched him this closely, what else was he able to see so clearly? It felt sort of unnerving, especially when Percy morphs back into himself, shedding Nico's posture as easily as taking off a coat.

Nico's struck by how confident Percy seems in contrast to just a few seconds ago, he definitely holds himself in a different way than Nico. Percy knows he's the best and he's not afraid to put it on display. If it's a role he can play, he can fake it till he feels the way he's acting. It almost seems cocky. Nico adjusts his posture a little bit, sticking his hand into his front pocket the same way Percy usually does, trying to come off as casual.

"You're arrogant and you like to show off," Nico begins.

Percy laughs, his eyes dancing with mirth. "Oh, what a nice husband I have!"

Nico rakes his hair back in the same way Percy usually does, noticing how Percy watches, his eyes never missing a single detail.

"You know you're handsome, so you use it to your advantage. You think, who'd ever say no to a face like yours."

"Handsome? Please, keep going," Percy almost purrs, inching closer to Nico with a casual swagger in his step.

"You're always off to the side, noting where all the exits are, so you're ready to bolt in case anything goes wrong, but that goes with all of your interactions as well. You know how to direct the conversation to your favor so that you never have to give away anything you don't want to."

There's a small smile on his lips now as if laughing at a private joke.

"Tell me, do you like to observe me closely, do you like keeping your eyes on me?" Percy murmurs, gazing down at Nico with a small twinkle in his eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing, I had no idea you watched me so closely." Nico saunters over to him, grabbing Percy by his jacket and bringing them chest to chest.

"How can I not when you're the brightest thing I've ever laid eyes on," Percy's voice grows husky, eyes burning Nico from the inside out.

"Trying to find out what makes me tick?"

Percy's eyes are smoldering, and his smirk is knife sharp, "I already know what makes you tick."

"Really? Well, enlighten me."

"What about our list?" Percy inches closer to Nico, dipping his head enough that their foreheads touch. Nico can feel the ghost of Percy's breath on his lips.

_Just like the night at the bakery...we're so close...we can close this bit of space between us right now._

Nico can feel the goosebumps all over, his heart pounding in his chest, heat burning Nico when Percy grabs at his hips, pushing them flush against each other.

"What was it you said? Practice makes perfect?"

"That I did," Percy smirks at him, and before he can change his mind, Nico takes the plunge and closes the gap between them. Kissing Percy with a fervor of a man starved.

Percy pulls Nico harshly against the hard lines of his body, Nico can feel the muscle underneath and his body comes alive, he feels like he's touched a live wire. Heat spreads everywhere Percy touches him, his kisses Nico harshly, almost as if making up for all the times he didn't before. But all too soon, it's over and Percy's composing himself, slowly letting go of Nico, and backing away.

"Sorry," Percy says hoarsely.

"Don't apologize, I kind of asked for it."

"I should have known better."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Nico tries to soothe Percy, trying to meet his eyes.

"It's..." Percy begins, his eyes flitting over to Nico's, "not going to happen again."

* * *

Leonard takes Nico to some over the top restaurant, obviously trying to impress him. With Percy in his ear, directing the conversation to where he wants it to go.

"Is this man ever going to let you talk?" Percy mutters through Nico's earpiece.

Nico, can't say anything without blowing his cover, but he'll be damned if he worked hard to perfect his role all so that he could crack up laughing at hearing Percy complain.

"Oh, great, he's talking about another safari trip he took, hey Nico, ask him if he'd feed himself to a lion next time he goes," Percy bites sarcastically.

Nico clears his throat, trying not to laugh while he concentrates on what Leonard is saying. The lunch date had so far been a success, with Leonard taking the lead almost as soon as Nico reached the restaurant. From the start of their date, Leonard asked Nico how he was and then proceeded to talk about himself nonstop. First about founding his company "from the ground up" even though he got a loan from his rich parents to start his company. Then he went on to talk about all of his "struggles" after starting his company. And from there, well, Nico tried his best to pay attention without letting his eyes glaze over from boredom.

Now though, he was talking about his latest excursion to Africa.

"So we start to make our way to where we're staying, right-" Leonard continues.

"Oh god, Nico _I'm_ bored for you!" Percy exclaims.

"-you'd love it, trust me," Leonard flashes a smile at Nico.

"Wow, did you see a lot of animals?" Nico asks.

"Just great, first my husband goes on a date with another man, and now he's ignoring me!" Percy laments, and it takes everything in Nico not to roll his eyes.

"-yeah I was really roughing it out there, I went two nights without A/C because something happened with the central vents-" Leonard goes on and on while Nico takes a long sip of his wine.

_I'm going to need this if I'm gonna deal with Percy and Leonard._

"He calls that roughing it?" Percy asks bitterly.

"-ended up lifting two of those heavy bags all the way back!" Leonard smiles proudly at Nico.

"Oh wow Leonard, you're so strong!" Nico says flirtatiously, giving him a smoldering look, or at least he hoped it was.

"I think I'm going to barf..." Percy mutters.

"Well, you know, I try to work out when I'm not busy running my company-" Leonard puffs up his chest.

"Dear lord this man's ego is something else," Percy mumbles under his breath.

"-But you know how it goes-" Leonard continues.

Nico coughs a little to cover the laugh that threatened to burst out.

"I did see a lot of animals though, none of them tried to come near me. What can I say, even an animal knows where there's an alpha around," Leonard teases.

"Au Secours! Taste police eject this man from France!" Percy exclaims.

This time, the laugh Nico does let out is genuine. Leonard looks pleased with himself, thinking he had made Nico laugh like that.

"Would you like to take this somewhere a little more...private?" Leonard's gaze is intense.

"Nico," Percy begins, his tone serious, "I don't think that's a good idea. I think you should cut the date short and end it here. We made good progress."

Nico mulls it over silently, if he were to take Leonard up on that maybe he'd get closer to finding where that copy of Suite Bergamasque was. He looks over at Leonard and smiles shyly, hoping that would win him over.

"Where exactly were you thinking of taking this?" Nico asks, putting on a breathy tone and tilting his head to give Leonard a view of his neck.

"I have a yacht, I was thinking we could take a ride down the Seine river?" Leonard's eyes follow the action, growing darker the more they linger.

"Nico," Percy hisses in his earpiece, "what do you think you're doing?"

He couldn't answer Percy, but he didn't need to, he knew what he was doing.

"That sounds perfect," Nico smiles at Leonard, "I'm so excited, I've never been on a yacht before!"

That wasn't a lie and besides, Percy told him to stick closely to the truth while lying to make it sound more believable. Nico has never been on a yacht before and he was willing to admit that he was excited even if he had Leonard as his company.

"You're going to love it then," Leonard leers at him, "wait here while I make some calls."

Once he was out of earshot, Nico clears his throat before talking to Percy.

"I know you're worried but please trust me."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Percy asks annoyed.

"I'm going to see if Leonard has the copy on his yacht and if not, then it's only a matter of time before he invites back to his place?"

There was a growl that was ripped from the back of Percy's throat, "there is no way you're going to be going back to his place. I'm not letting that happen."

"Why not?"

"You're still new at this," Percy says and his tone tells Nico enough to not push.

"Okay fine, but I can still do this."

"Nico, I don't think you understand. Leonard's company deals with high-security threats. His place is rigged with the best equipment, which makes it impossible for hackers to crack his system. Not just that but he's practically invisible, flying under the radar with his tech."

"Well can't Grover track it through me?"

"As soon as you step foot on his yacht Grover's tech is going to stop working, we won't be able to even talk through the earpiece because it'll be dead. Nico, please don't do this. I won't know if you're safe or not if you go. Finding out if the copy is there isn't as important as you."

While Nico's heart soared at hearing that, he knew he couldn't back down now, not when he had come so far. This was going to affect the rest of the heist.

"I'm sorry Perce, I gotta do this."

"Nico, please, Grover isn't anywhere near to getting through Leonard's security, cut the date short. Tell him I called that I'm coming out of the office early and heading home. Say anything to get out of it, please. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Percy, trust me, I'll be fine."

"Nico-!"

He couldn't say anymore because Leonard was coming back to the table with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Everything is ready for us, ready to leave?"

"Absolutely, but what about the bill?"

"Already taken care of," Leonard eases Nico.

"Oh wow, thank you, you're such a gentleman," Nico smiles at him sweetly.

"Come on, I can't wait to take you for a ride on the Seine. You'll love it."

* * *

Nico didn't think Leonard could be anymore boisterously showy than he already was, but looking at his yacht proved Nico wrong. This was the flashiest, gaudiest yacht Nico's ever seen. There was gold-plated everywhere he looked and Nico wasn't sure how the boat stayed afloat with so much gold...everywhere. With the way the sun was hitting everything, it was enough to give him a headache if he stared too straight ahead at the yacht. It was very in your face in a bad way.

What made it more unbearable was that Leonard was telling a story about him purchasing this boat and then redesigning it his way. Talk about a millionaire having tacky taste.

They reached the deck where there was already a wait staff on board. Two people along with the captain and it all felt very intimate and private. If Nico were here with someone else (definitely not Percy, he wasn't thinking about him) he would say this was very romantic. He guesses this is what Leonard was trying to portray anyways. The yacht starts to leave the harbor and for a while, they're just cruising down the river. They make a stop in the middle of the Seine, not too close to the docks but not too far either.

Leonard was already pointing out all of the things he renovated on the boat, from the deck to the bathrooms, to the security he had added. He walked Nico through a tour of the yacht, showing Nico to some guest rooms, and rooms where he stored some artworks. While it was interesting, the conversation lacked because Leonard had no real passion for the arts. It didn't feel like that time he had gone with Maya and Annabeth to the Louvre.

"And this," the tone of his voice made Nico's ears perk up, "is my bedroom. Because I know how secure this place is, I put my most prized possessions here."

Leonard starts to tap on a keypad that if Nico hadn't been looking, he would've missed it completely. It was smartly hidden behind a panel near the door. Then, the keypad opened up to reveal a fingerprint scan of Leonard's thumb, before going back into hiding as the door to his bedroom opened.

"I was waiting to tell you about this but I recently won a bid for something that no one else in the world has," Leonard pauses dramatically for effect and Nico decides to play right into his hands.

"I wonder what it is, mind if I take a guess?" Nico smirks over at him, winking confidently at Leonard.

"Go ahead, let's see if you can guess correctly."

"Hm, you said it was so rare, no one in the world has it but you..." Nico hums in contemplation, looking around at the room, "was it a rare jewel that was thought to be lost?" He tilts his head to the side, trying his best to look innocent to Leonard.

"No, I'm afraid you got it wrong, sweet thing," Leonard walks over to Nico, cornering him against the wall.

Nico swallows hard as he tries to steady the hammering of his heart, this definitely felt different than when it was with Percy.

"So what was it?"

"The first-ever recorded copy of Suite Bergamasque, which has Clair de lune, in case you didn't know," Leonard finishes the explanation a bit snobbishly.

Nico ignores that and widens his eyes in surprise, slipping from under Leonard and moving towards the door of the bedroom, "oh wow! I had no idea, I bet that cost a lot."

"Money is never an issue with me," he replies smoothly, moving to get closer to Nico and in the process leaving his room and shutting the door. "Is money an issue between you and Percy? Was that why you both had a fight that night at dinner with Josie and Alex?"

They make their way above deck as they continue to talk and Nico can feel his body pulse with anxious energy. If he doesn't sell this now, it could ruin the whole heist.

_This is it, time for me to work my magic!_

Nico puts on a sad face, glancing away from Leonard, almost ashamed, coming to sit on the lounge chair and shielding his eyes away from Leonard.

"You know, you can talk to me about anything Nico, I want to be here for you."

"I think Percy doesn't want to admit it but, business has been slow. He works so many hours and I'm left alone by myself most of the time, and when he comes home he's frustrated with how the day has gone...I don't know what else to do."

"You know, you'd never have to worry about a thing with me."

"Leonard, I don't...want to take advantage..."

"Nonsense, you wouldn't!"

"No, really, besides it's not just about money, Percy hasn't..." Nico pauses, morphing his face so that it seemed he was uncomfortable with what he was about to share, "we haven't been as... _intimate_ as we used to be."

"Nico, a man like you should be worshipped and loved every second of every day. If you were _my_ husband, not a day would go by without you feeling loved and cherished."

Nico looks up at Leonard, "oh Leonard, the way you make me feel when I'm around you...this is wrong...I'm married!"

"Hey, I'm just a friend, you and me, we're friends, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just letting you know that you have options, and it doesn't hurt to keep an open mind. I'm going to be here for you, no matter what."

"You promise?" Nico asks shyly, looking vulnerable.

Leonard smiles at him victoriously, "I promise. You can trust me."

"I already do," Nico murmurs softly, feeling Leonard give him a kiss at the top of his head.

"Wait here, I'm going to get us some champagne," with that, Leonard gets up, flashing Nico one last smile before going below deck.

Nico takes in the view and watches as the sun begins to set, dotting the sky with a beautiful orange and pink hue. There's some splashing that seems to sound closer the more time passes but Nico decides to ignore it until he hears a thud against the back of the yacht. Getting up the see what that is, he comes face to face with Percy as he pulls himself up onto the boat, dripping wet.

His hair is matted to his forehead and his shirt sticks closely to his torso, revealing the hard muscle underneath. Nico bites his lips as he watches Percy heave himself to stand in front of him, out of breath but smirking cockily at Nico. _Arrogantly._

"Percy..." Nico begins, looking over at him, "what the hell are you doing?"

"Well, you decided to continue your date with Leonard, I couldn't sit back and let you go without knowing you were safe. I had to make sure my husband was in good hands."

"I was going to be fine."

"There was no way of knowing that, you shouldn't have gone off by yourself like that."

"Well, it was a good thing I did because I found out Leonard has the copy here on his boat."

Percy stops and looks at Nico with a surprised expression before breaking out into a big grin.

"You found it?"

"I did," Nico smiles at him proudly.

"I knew you could do it!" Percy rushes to hug him but Nico backs off, smiling when Percy's face falls.

"Oh no, you're all wet, you're not hugging me like that, wait till dry before trying that again."

"I don't believe it, my own husband being so cruel to me," Percy sighs dramatically, clutching a hand to his chest right where his heart is.

Nico rolls his eyes, "yeah, yeah, now get out of here before Leonard sees you."

"I knew you were going to be great," Percy whispers, before backing away and flipping off the deck and jumping back into the water. He waves at Nico from the river before swimming back to the docks, and Nico's surprised at how fast he's going. It was like Percy was made to be in the water.

Leonard comes back with champagne and finger food for them to eat while they talk. Well, while Nico hears Leonard talk.

_At least I'm getting free alcohol._

* * *

When Nico finally parts ways with Leonard, he's walking back to the penthouse from where he was dropped off at, which was the fake address he had given Leonard. He's too busy thinking about the next step that it takes him a bit to notice there's someone following him. Not sparing a glance back, Nico ducks into an alleyway trying to lose the person. After ten minutes, he thinks he's gotten away when he feels fingertips grabbing hold of his wrist.

Before he has time to shout, there's a hand pressed to his mouth as his wrists are pinned above his head and Nico comes face to face with vivid green eyes.

Percy smirks at him mischievously before letting go of Nico, "I taught you well in evading, too bad it took you so long to realize you were being followed. What had you so distracted Nico?"

Nico rolls his eyes at Percy before pushing him back softly, "I was just thinking about the next step in the heist."

"We can talk about the job another day, tonight, give your pretty little head a rest."

Nico looks up at Percy quickly before glancing away, "you think that's a good idea?"

"Sometimes, it's not always about the heist all the time, it's good to sit back and unwind. Besides, I think you need it after spending an afternoon with Leonard alone."

"Have you been waiting for me after you swam back to the docks?" Nico asks as they make their way out of the alleyway.

Percy actually blushes and it's the first time Nico's caught it with his very eyes that he misses what Percy said.

"Uh, what?"

"I said," Percy pauses, looking away shyly from Nico, "I was worried about you and I knew if I went back to the house, I'd drive everyone crazy because I wouldn't be able to sit still knowing you were out there with Leonard." He finishes off, tossing out Leonard's name bitterly.

"I was perfectly safe."

"I know you were, it still didn't stop me from worrying though."

"Thank you," Nico smiles softly, looking over at him.

Percy shrugs, "it's nothing."

Nico stops them from walking, grabbing hold of Percy's bicep, bringing him closer to Nico, "it was a nice gesture." He smiles up at Percy who gazes down at Nico with tender eyes. They stay that way for a few moments before beginning to walk again.

Nico looks up to see the Eiffel Tower shining brilliantly in the distance and his breath catches in his throat.

"Wow, the tower looks so beautiful from here," Nico murmurs softly.

"I agree," Percy comments but it's not genuine, Nico can tell that much.

"Hey, you know you don't have to be a mirror image of me, that's not how relationships work. I've said it before, we don't always have to agree."

"But isn't it?"

Nico stops walking, Percy pausing beside him, looking at him in confusion and that's when everything clicks. The way Percy holds himself back so much, yet his intentions are crystal clear. How he agrees with Nico constantly even if he doesn't mean it. The way he doesn't let Nico in without a lot of prying, it's not that he doesn't trust Nico, he's just scared to trust him.

"Oh my god, you've never been in a relationship before, have you?"

Percy flushes for the second time that night, but he looks indignant too. Almost like his pride's been hurt.

"I have been in _many_ relationships before. With many women _and_ men, thank you very much!" If not for the way his cheeks were getting redder by the second, Nico would have almost taken it back.

"I never said there was anything wrong with not having been in a relationship before," Nico raises his hands up in surrender.

"Hey!" Percy's offended shout makes Nico laugh while Percy tries to gain control of the situation. "I'm going to get you for that."

"I'm shaking," Nico teases, running away when Percy starts chasing him.

And maybe it's the fact that they're getting closer to stealing the copy of Suite Bergamasque, or that little by little Nico is getting to know all of these different sides to Percy but, Nico feels happy and carefree in a way he hasn't before.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thanks for reading my story! Enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, or QoT

Since the date on the yacht, a week had passed with Nico ignoring Leonard's calls and messages. Drew and Percy both mentioned that now was the time to play aloof and distance himself from Leonard to make him want to chase after Nico. In the meantime, they had made progress with the forgery, adding another layer of base coat and aging it just right, starting with the base paint that was to be the background. So far, Nico had done the outline of La Belle, without putting too much detail in it.

Everyone was at the penthouse, except for Reyna who was out running an errand, and Percy who was usually out in the mornings anyway. Leo was working on his latest mini explosive that would work in getting the copy of the composition Percy wanted out of the case Leonard had it in. When Nico had been shown it, he had described as best he could from memory what type of casing it was in to Leo so that he could begin work on getting it out. Grover meanwhile, kept working day and night to try to crack into Leonard's security system but it was proving to be a lot more difficult than anticipated.

Annabeth mentioned that everything was starting to fall into place, so she wanted to speed things up on the painting so that it would be done by the time the heist finished and they could be off to their next one. Maya had gone back to the underbelly two days ago with Drew to get more supplies for their forgery and Nico knew later on tonight, that they'd put another layer and add more details onto the forgery.

it was quiet while they worked, Nico was busy sketching La Belle, Maya was busy making sure the painting was drying correctly (with Drew attempting to distract her), Grover was busy typing away at his laptop, and Annabeth and Leo were having a discussion on the new gadget he was working on. With Annabeth getting reassured that the composition wouldn't get ruined in the extraction. So it was a surprise to see Percy walk into the penthouse in such a good mood, practically vibrating with energy, a bouquet of blue flowers in his hands as he made a beeline straight for Nico.

Nico looks up in time to see Percy's big grin as he came to a stop in front of him, bending down to plant a kiss; dangerously close to the corner of his mouth, before handing the blue flowers to Nico.

"Morning Nico, these are for you," Percy whispers, smiling tenderly at him.

_Not angel, not husband...he said my name this time._

Nico's eyes are wide in surprise before a big smile spreads across his face, he can't contain the joy he feels knowing that Percy had gotten these for him. He's left speechless for a moment, floundering with his mouth opening and closing a few times, trying to get his bearings. He can't help the goofy grin on his face and he knows he must look like a weirdo just smiling like that but Nico can't help it. Warmth and happiness hum inside him.

"What did I do to deserve these?" Nico asks, bringing the flowers close to his face so that he could smell them.

"Nothing, I was...I was just out and- I thought it'd make you happy," Percy answers honestly.

After that night of reminding him that Percy could disagree with Nico and that Percy didn't need to do anything to please him, that it could be because he wanted to, Percy had slowly begun changing. He would express his opinion more around Nico whenever they went out together, and he wouldn't feel the need to play the role of the perfect husband anymore.

"You didn't have to," Nico chuckles, giddiness spreading throughout him.

"I wanted to, if it meant it'd make you smile, it was worth it," Percy smiles softly at him.

_Percy was just out and about this morning. And he was thinking of me..._ Nico hides his smile among the flowers.

They were blue, with little green spores sticking out from the middle, and together in the bouquet, they resembled wildflowers that could have been picked from a field. They were beautiful, simple, and dainty, it was enough to brighten Nico's day. Nico recalled the name for them, having seen them before in his stepmom's flower shops. Love-in-a-mist flowers.

"Hey, I know these," Nico looks up at Percy.

"Yes, their meaning is about being open to-" Percy begins before faltering, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

_Love-in-a-mist flowers mean puzzlement or perplexity, which could mean I puzzle Percy...but they also mean being open to love. Kiss me._

"I know the meaning," Nico smirks and for once Percy looks a little shy, averting his gaze from Nico.

"I just hope you like them," he shrugs, trying to come off as nonchalant but Nico can read his body language. He's nervous, his body is tense and coiled, flighty, _maybe he was nervous I wouldn't want them._

It feels like it's just the two of them right here and now, but that comes crashing down when they realize that the room has grown quiet. With Leo, Grover, and Annabeth watching the two silently. Annabeth's got a calculating gleam in her eyes, Leo is outright staring at them with his mouth hanging open and Grover at least has the decency to make pretend he's not paying as much attention. Thankfully, the only ones not paying attention are Maya and Drew, but that's only because they're in their own little world.

But it's enough to make Percy twitch. Nico can tell Percy's mind is racing to change the atmosphere of the room when Reyna walks in with a huge bouquet of different colored Gerberas. She sets it down on the table along with a box Nico didn't see from where he was standing.

"These are for Nico," she says, putting the box down as well, "you must have made quite the impression on Leonard."

At seeing the more opulent bouquet, Percy's face falls completely. It almost breaks Nico's heart.

_Is he actually disappointed?_

It's only for a second before he schools his expression back to normal, but Nico had seen enough to know this was bothering Percy. He isn't the only one who sees how this is affecting Percy, Annabeth is practically burning a hole through Percy's head with the look she's giving him. With the gears turning in her mind, Nico can tell it's only a matter of time before she figures out something is going on between them...if she hasn't already.

Percy puts on a big grin, but it doesn't reach his eyes as he looks over the flowers, "I knew my husband would have Leonard wrapped around his finger! You'll have his codes in no time!"

"I'll say, what exactly did you _do_ , Nico?" Leo asks, smirking playfully at him.

At the mention of Nico doing something with Leonard, Percy freezes momentarily, before laughing off Leo's remark, but there's a catch to his laugh. As if it hurt him.

"Nothing! We just talked, I swear!" Nico answers, glancing over at Percy, who seems to have gotten a handle on his composure.

"Shame, shame, I know your name," Grover teases.

Nico rolls his eyes, but despite that, he's smiling, as Leo whistles in appreciation, "that must have been _some_ talk!"

"So what would be the next step knowing you got Leonard hooked?" Reyna asks, looking over at Nico and Percy.

"Well, now would be the time to go on another date," Percy answers. "He wants to impress Nico, show him the kind of life he could have with Leonard by his side, so this is a critical time for Nico to get Leonard to trust him."

"In the meantime," Annabeth begins, "Reyna, why don't you toss those flowers out? They're too tasteless for the penthouse."

"Well, they are for Nico," Reyna glances over at him.

"I agree with Annabeth, way too tacky, besides, I have the ones Percy gave me, and I love them," he says, sneaking a peek at Percy. A soft smile touches his face as he looks down at the floorboards, trying to hide it.

"Okay, into the trash they go," Reyna says, picking them up.

"Wait, maybe we could give them away?" Nico starts, "I feel kind of bad because they are still alive, and I'm sure someone would like them?"

"I can give them to the lady at the bakery shop, I'm sure she'd love them," Grover says, closing his laptop. "Besides, I need to stretch my legs and give my eyes a rest from looking at the screen so much."

"I'll go with, I just came to drop these off before going to pick up some parts for my car," Reyna says, walking towards the door.

As soon as the door closes, Nico's burner phone rings, and he pulls it out to see Leonard's calling him.

"Hello," Nico greets, picking up the call.

_"Good morning, Nico, I was just calling to see if you liked the gift I left for you today?"_

"Oh, I did! Thank you so much! They were such a great surprise, it made my day," Nico fakes his happiness.

_"I knew you'd love them. Listen, I wanted to have lunch with you today, how about I pick you up at noon?"_

"Sounds perfect, maybe we could go for another ride on the yacht? I do have a bit more time to spare today," Nico puts on a shy voice.

_"Percy's working late?"_

"Yes, he is."

_"Perfect, I'll have a car ready for you."_

"Great, see you later."

Once the call ends, Percy studies Nico minutely before a slow smile spreads across his face, "the student has surpassed the master. My husband is so smart and clever!" He kisses the top of Nico's head, filling Nico with warm pleasure all over.

Nico wishes more than anything to stay in this moment just a little bit longer.

* * *

It had been about three weeks since Leonard had given Nico the flowers. They had gone on several dates since then, with Nico always dancing out of reach before anything physical happened between them. They were playing a game of cat and mouse, trying to get Leonard to show just how much he desired Nico. Right now, Nico was on another lunch date with Leonard but the conversation was lacking and Leonard was paying more attention to his phone than to what Nico was saying.

"This is bad," Percy says in Nico's ear, "he's barely present, that means he's getting bored."

Nico clears his throat, drinking a bit of water before resuming what he was saying.

"We're making this too easy for him, he's losing interest," Percy finishes.

_So then what do we do?_

"Uh-huh," Leonard answers offhandedly, typing away at his phone.

"Damn bastard," Percy seethes, "okay, here's what we're going to do. You're going to pretend you just got a text message from me that I'm coming home early from work and you have to go. I know just what to do to make this exciting for him again."

Nico steels himself and lets a few minutes go by before glancing down at his phone and gasping, making Leonard look his way. He raises an eyebrow while Nico makes pretend to read the contents of the text Percy sent him.

"Leonard, I have to go," Nico says, standing up, trying to put on a panicked air about him.

"What's wrong?" Leonard asks, and Nico thought that for once during their date, he seemed interested in what was going on.

_Oh, so now I have his attention,_ Nico grumbles.

"Uh, Percy just texted me letting me know that he's coming home early from work, so I have to go," Nico says, gathering his things. "I have to get home before he does or else he's-"

"Don't worry, I'll give you a ride home, we'll get there in no time," Leonard responds, getting up as well, "let me get the check and we'll be out soon."

Percy speaks through the earpiece, "let him drop you off."

"Thank you so much, Leonard," Nico gives him a grateful smile, watching as Leonard walks away. "What are you thinking?" Nico asks as soon as Leonard was out of earshot.

"Just be prepared to act," Percy says before cutting off the connection.

Leonard and Nico race to the fake address Nico had given him. Right as they're outside of the door, Leonard stops Nico from going inside.

"Wait, when can I see you again?"

Nico pauses, looking over his shoulder, "uh, I'm not sure, I think we shouldn't see each other anytime soon."

"But I _need_ to see you," Leonard pleads.

"I don't know, I haven't told you this but Percy's been getting suspicious since we spend so much time together," Nico begins, "I just don't think the time is right for us to see each other again."

"Why didn't you?" Leonard asks, but there's a smug look in his eyes that makes the question seem less sincere.

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Nico, I could have helped you, I will always be here for you, please know this."

"Thank you, Leonard, I know that-"

"Nico? Leonard?" Nico can hear Percy's voice behind them and he looks over Leonard's shoulder to meet Percy's eye, who winks at him.

_Guess it's showtime._

Leonard turns around to come face to face with him, a smile threatening to break free, held barely together by his poker face if Nico could even call it that.

_I know he wants to spill everything to Percy right now simply just to win at his little game._

"Percy, hello, how are you?" Leonard greets, almost sneering at him.

Percy looks between him and Nico, making sure Leonard can see the exact moment when the pieces all fall into place and showing his face to Leonard as he makes the connection between them. With Nico having planted the seed of Percy suspecting that something is going on between him and Leonard, it would sell whatever Percy does next.

_Percy's acting like the husband who's finding out his partner might be cheating on him...he wants Leonard to think he's catching on..._

Percy's face soon morphs into one of silent rage, the color of his eyes darken, and his mouth is pressed into a thin, tight line. Hands clenching at his sides and features twisting up into anger, it was a little hard for Nico to not get swept away by the act Percy was putting on.

"Leonard," Percy says darkly through grit teeth, his eyes flick over to Nico, who knows that this isn't real but can't help flinching when their eyes meet.

"I was just dropping off Nico, we were having some lunch," Leonard says, trying and failing to contain his excitement at seeing Percy so furious.

"I'm well aware," Percy says icily.

There's an awkward pause, and Nico can't help but sweat, he knows it's all pretend but Percy's an incredibly good actor that Nico can't help but be amazed and feel slightly terrified.

_I need to implicate myself, that way Leonard won't think it's weird how Percy jumps to the conclusion that I'm cheating on him._

"Percy," Nico begins, "this isn't what it looks like. We were just having lunch is all, nothing-"

"You don't think I know what you two have been doing?" Percy interrupts, growling.

"Percy, I swear, it's just going out for lunch and hanging out," Nico begins, eyebrows drawn and mouth turned down.

"I know that you two go out on secret dates, you don't think I've noticed how you act around me, Nico? Ever since that date with him almost a month back," Percy spits out viciously.

"Percy, buddy," Leonard begins, trying to smooth things over, but the delight is written all over his face, "we're just friends is all."

"I know you're _just_ friends," Percy says, walking up to Leonard until he's staring at him right in the eyes, leveling him with a hateful look, "remember this, Nico is _my_ husband, _mine,_ and he'll never be yours."

Leonard's brow quirks up, intrigued by the prospect of a challenge, "I know that perfectly well, Percy."

"Stay away from him," Percy shoves past Leonard until he's standing next to Nico.

"Try not to be too hard on Nico," Leonard begins before Percy turns to him looking livid.

"How about you mind your business when it comes to my husband and our marriage."

Leonard puts his hands up in surrender, backing away, and turning to Nico, "goodbye, Nico."

Once he gets back in the car and is out of sight, Percy turns to Nico, "so, how was my acting as the jealous husband?" He asks playfully.

"As dramatic as I thought you'd be."

"I do live to stir up drama," Percy winks at him.

Nico rolls his eyes, shoving Percy slightly, "why am I not surprised."

"I wanted to dazzle you with my skills."

"Consider me slightly dazzled, try harder next time," Nico teases, going down the steps and beginning to walk to the penthouse.

Percy pouts, walking after him, "it's so hard to please you sometimes, dear husband."

"Well, then maybe that's enough incentive for you to try harder."

"Really? And what would my prize be?"

"Maybe dazzle me more and you just might find out."

Percy chuckles under his breath, "you think you can handle me?"

Nico stops walking and turns towards Percy, leveling him with a determined look, "I can handle anything you throw my way."

"Someone's sounding more confident," Percy raises a brow.

"What can I say? I've been learning from the best."

"So you admit, I'm the best," Percy teases while Nico lets out a groan.

"Of course that only served to boost your ego even more."

"But it's only the truth."

Nico rolls his eyes as they resume walking, "come on big head, let's go home."

* * *

Days pass with Nico ignoring Leonard's calls and messages, but with every message ignored, Leonard would send extravagant gifts to Nico. All to show Percy just how well Leonard could afford to treat him. Sometimes the gifts were nice, like that really nice watch Leonard gifted him three days ago but other times some of the gifts would be tacky. Nico found he liked it best when Leonard would send food and drinks as gifts.

But even though Nico was ignoring Leonard for the time being, it was starting to feel like too much of his energy was being sapped.

Nico was honestly feeling exhausted. Between the two heists of painting the forgery and conning Leonard, Nico felt like it was all catching up to him. He needed a break, or else he was going to feel trapped and anxious. This was why he and Percy were currently inside the Louvre, visiting the other exhibits since Nico mostly spent his time in the exhibit that housed paintings. Nico was grateful that Percy took him out of the penthouse to decompress, although he had been taken aback when Percy had asked him in the morning.

_Percy had called it a date._

So here he was, with Percy passing by a room full of statues and another room filled with pottery from Egypt while Nico talked about art. Percy wasn't as familiar with certain terms or styles as Annabeth, Maya, and Leo were but Nico was still enjoying himself. This was the most fun he's had in a while.

After seeing all they could see, they walked outside and towards the garden that surrounded the Louvre. A part of Nico can't help but imagine what it would be like to date Percy, for real. Right now, it felt as if Percy was being his most genuine self, and Nico liked that he was able to see that side of him. Sneaking a peek out of the corner of his eye, Nico notes a small smile playing across Percy's face, his hands in his pockets as they make their way out.

"I had a lot of fun," Nico begins, smiling at Percy, "thanks for taking me out, I didn't know how much I needed it."

"Of course, I know how hard it can get when you're in the middle of a long con, it's exhausting."

"So you planned our date today?"

Percy's eyes flicker over to Nico's briefly, before glancing away, "I did, and there's still another surprise I want to show you."

"Really? Someone is going all out today."

"Is it such a bad thing to want to treat my husband out to a nice date?"

Nico puts on a contemplative face, "hm, do you have any ulterior motives?"

"A conman never reveals his true intentions."

"Well, mister conman, what's the surprise?"

Percy shakes his head, smirking, "I can't tell you, it's going to ruin it if I do."

"I'll forgive you if you spill the beans."

"You're not getting the answer out of me, trust me, you're going to love it."

"I better, because if I don't and you build it up just for me to be let down, it'll be extremely disappointing."

Percy rolls his eyes at him, "what a demanding husband I have."

"Hey! I just know my worth," Nico teases.

Percy laughs loudly, smiling at Nico fondly.

_That's his real smile...the one I've been seeing more of._

Some part of Nico found it was easy being like this with Percy, it felt natural almost, as easy as breathing. Talking, laughing, teasing. Even when Percy was teaching Nico how to become a better thief, there was never a dull moment with him. Sitting in the living room as Nico sketched or in the quiet mornings out on the roof or balcony, it was nice.

Nico felt himself falling for Percy more and more, and despite knowing that this was all a con, he knew that he was falling for the real Percy. He also found that he was no longer afraid of admitting it.

Percy grabs Nico's wrist, bringing him to a stop on the sidewalk. Nico raises an eyebrow at him but gets a teasing smirk in answer.

"Close your eyes," Percy says.

"Why?"

"Just do it, it's for the surprise."

"Hm, I don't know if I trust you..."

Percy blanches, "my husband doesn't trust me?"

"Well, you know what they say about trusting a conman," Nico shrugs nonchalantly.

"Please Nico, do this one thing for me, you'll want to be surprised for this."

Nico's eyes flit across Percy's face, "okay, I trust you."

Percy breaks out into a big smile as he takes Nico's hand, "I'll lead the way."

With his eyes closed, Nico grips Percy's hand tight following after him before coming to another stop. He feels Percy let go of his hand and then hears him fiddling with what sounds like chains and a lock.

_He must be picking the lock to get inside._

Soon the chain rattles and Nico can hear it falling to the ground somewhere, Percy takes Nico's hand again and Nico can hear what sounds like gates opening. They continue to walk a couple of paces, with the concrete soon getting soft, there's a quietness that settles as they come to another stop and Nico feels Percy turning him around.

"Okay," he begins, and maybe it's Nico's imagination but he thinks he hears Percy's voice shake, "you can open them."

When Nico sees where they are, his breath catches in his throat. All around him is lush grass, beautiful flowers of varying colors, and huge trees providing shade. He can hear birds chirping in the branches, bees flying from flower to flower, and can hear a small trickle of water nearby. Nico's eyes flicker all over the place, never really staying in one place before his eyes finally stop on Percy.

He's looking at Nico in awe, smiling tenderly at him, his hands twisting the wedding band in his fingers, fingers itching to hold onto Nico, and never let him go.

"It's a garden!" Nico exclaims, grinning widely.

At his obvious delight, Percy's smile grows as he steps closer to Nico, "yes, it's one of my favorite places, my secret...safe haven..."

"You come here often?"

"I do when I need to get away and I need a breather."

"How did you find this place?" Nico asks, still taking everything in and desperately wishing he had brought his sketchbook.

"After I had gotten kicked out but before I met my mentor, it was hard to find somewhere safe to sleep. I had gone almost two days without fully resting before I came across this garden. I had been out on the streets for about three weeks and I had just learned how to pick a lock. This garden is only for the people who live in this apartment complex, so it was always locked which meant it would be safe so long as I avoided the guard."

Nico swallows the lump in his throat, "so, you used to sleep here when you had nowhere else to go?"

"Yeah," Percy answers, smiling sadly, "it was safe here. I felt safe. So this became my favorite place to be."

"I can see why it's beautiful here."

"I wanted to show you this place because..." Percy pauses, twisting the band on his finger once more, a nervous tick, "because I thought that you'd want to sketch this place."

Nico felt stunned into silence. The gears were turning inside his head as he tried to put the pieces of this new information together. Before it was the flowers, then it was planning this date to help Nico relax after running such a long con and now it was showing him this place because Percy knew how much Nico loved to sketch nature. Little by little, it was starting to feel like Percy was starting to care about Nico in a completely different way than when they first started the heist together.

Nico smiles softly, "that's so thoughtful of you."

Percy rubs the back of his neck, looking away, "I just...I figured..." he stops, glancing at Nico before averting his gaze again.

_I don't think I've ever seen Percy at a loss for words before._

"Thank you for showing me this, I love it."

Percy's eyes burn into Nico's and in one stride Percy's standing in front of him, pressing their bodies together. He doesn't have even one second to think before Nico feels Percy's lips on him. Stealing the breath right out of his lungs, his teeth catching Nico's bottom lip. Percy presses small kisses on Nico's cheeks before returning to capture his lips in another searing kiss that makes Nico's head spin. They part to catch their breaths and Percy presses their foreheads together, staring deep into Nico's eyes, and Nico can see just how utterly devastated Percy is.

"What-" Percy's breath catches in his throat, "Nico, what are you _doing_ to me?" He presses one more kiss to Nico's lips, muttering the question against them once more.

"I could ask you the same thing," Nico whispers.

"I can't- no matter what I do or how much I say I won't kiss you I can't stop it," Percy confesses, "I can't get you out- I-"

"It's okay, you don't have to stop Percy, can't you see how much I want this too?"

"You don't know what you're saying," Percy denies because it was easier to do that than accept what Nico was saying.

"Yes, I do."

"You don't know what you want."

"I want you."

"Please," Percy begs, "don't say that. You don't mean it."

Nico feels his cheeks flush but stops what he's about to say next because the look Percy gives him almost breaks his heart.

_He either doesn't want to believe I could love him or can't believe it...but I can't push him, not right now._

"I know very well what I want Percy and I'm not afraid of saying it, but I know you're not ready to hear it, so I'll stop."

Percy smiles at Nico gratefully before slowly pulling himself away, "I'm sorry I ruined the rest of our date."

"You didn't," Nico comforts him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently, "I had a lot of fun, this was probably one of the best days I've had in a while."

"Really?"

"I mean it, thank you."

They stare at one another, smiling softly in the afternoon light. Maybe Percy wasn't ready to know yet the full force of Nico's feelings but he was willing to wait. What they had right here, right now was nice and it was enough. Nico was thankful for that but he also wasn't going to let this go. He had an inkling that Percy was beginning to feel something for him, but it was new and it would scare Percy away and that was the last thing Nico wanted.

_I'm okay with this,_ Nico thinks to himself and settles down next to Percy on the grass.

They're still holding hands, laying down next to each other under the shade of the tree, letting the sounds of the world take them far, far away. And Nico wishes he could capture this moment, bottle it up and hold onto it forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'd just like to apologize for not posting these past two weekends, I meant to but it got so busy, so I'm sorry but I'll be back to posting every weekend from now on!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here's another chapter! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, or QoT

Maya had come to find that Drew liked poisonous things. The snake ring she often wore on her left hand had a secret hatch that would open to reveal a needle dipped in enough poison to put a grown man to sleep. The flowers in her room were all poisonous flowers and some of their toxins were used for her ring. But the one thing Drew was most proud of was her red, poisonous lipstick, which was worn almost all of the time.

Drew had trained her body from a young age to withstand high amounts of toxins, she once made an offhand comment to Maya that there were times in which she was close to passing out from wearing the toxic lipstick for too long. Now, she could wear it for a week straight without showing any effects from it.

Maya also found that the terms of endearment Drew often liked to use on her were done in a way that wasn't so endearing after all. It was used to try to distract her from seeing just how in control Drew needed to be of every situation. It was used to show that Drew was the one in charge, that she was the dominant one, that she knew just what to say to have Maya come running to her beck and call. To show just how easily Maya was under Drew's spell the minute those little nicknames were uttered from her lips.

Maya was beginning to despise the words "darling" and "little lamb".

Drew still wasn't seeing Maya for the capable woman she was becoming and it was slowly starting to grate on her nerves. She still didn't understand why Drew kept her at a distance and no matter how much she tried to break through the walls Drew had up, it just didn't seem to be enough. Trying to get something out of Drew was like trying to pull teeth and just when she thought she had made a breakthrough, Maya would end up back in square one when she got too close.

It was like dancing the tango with Drew, one step forward, two steps back. Although in Maya's case, it felt more like taking ten steps back. This dance with Drew had to be done carefully, it not, Drew was sure to leave Maya behind, burned.

Maya had yet to uncover even a scrap of Drew's past, all that she had so far was that Drew had been at this game a long time, longer than both Annabeth and Percy. She also found out that in the beginning, the Lotus originally had been composed of the three, with Leo, Reyna, and Grover joining later on, although the tale of how she ended up meeting Percy and Annabeth was something Drew wouldn't share.

Drew liked poison, pretty things, and control, that much Maya knew.

So Drew controlled the narrative of the story and only told the things she wanted Maya to know, but Maya was more observant than she let on.

There was one more thing Maya had come to understand, and that was that she made Drew nervous.

Studying under Drew, she was able to learn how to read a target's body language, in the process making it easy to get a read off of Drew. Maya learned how to manipulate her subject with certain words or gestures, making them more susceptible to fall for her tricks and was now able to keep her wits about her when dealing with Drew. There were such occasions when Maya would leave her speechless and stunned during one of their little games.

Slowly but surely, Maya was figuring out what made Drew tick, and what Maya found was that whenever she was around, Drew didn't know what to do with herself. That was because Drew never knew what to expect out of Maya, and that put her on edge.

Maya came out of the bathroom attached to Drew's room. She began to brush her hair, letting her body air dry as she thought about just how far she had come since her first meeting with the dark-haired beauty.

They had met while Maya had been on her way to work, stopping by a coffee shop for breakfast and bumping into Drew wearing a casual outfit of jeans and a black shirt instead of her usual formal dark ensemble.

Her red leather jacket is what caught Maya's eye and began their introduction.

Drew had been flirty, and gave off the air of being an open and inviting person, slithering deep into Maya's mind as she walked away from Drew, saying she needed to go or she'd be late. All-day long, all Maya could think about while at work was Drew.

She had gone home that night to find Annabeth waiting for her in her apartment with the offer of a lifetime.

"Oh, my-!" Drew's voice snaps Maya out of her memories, "sorry!"

Maya turns around to see Drew shielding her eyes away from her naked body.

"I- - didn't know you were changing," Drew says stilted.

_When I first met Drew, she wouldn't even let me in her room, teasing me every chance she got...she still does but now I can go toe to toe with her._

A part of Maya wanted to have fun with Drew, whose cheeks were beginning to turn red from embarrassment.

"It's okay," Maya begins, "we're both women, it's not like I have something you don't have."

"I didn't mean to walk in on you," Drew chokes out, still covering her eyes, "just let me know when you're decent."

Maya puts on her underwear but nothing else, letting her long dark hair cover her breasts in favor of putting on her bra.

"Okay, you can look now," she says, letting Drew uncover her eyes only to find Maya isn't decent at all.

"You're not changed!" Drew accuses, turning around to face the wall.

"You never specified just how decent I needed to be," Maya all but purrs, using Drew's signature teasing wit against her.

Drew turns her head to level Maya with a glare, fully knowing that Maya was doing this on purpose. The Latina only smiled at her innocently as she adjusted the straps of her bra.

"I like to air dry my body, get used to it," she sticks out her tongue at Drew, who watches with rapt attention.

"Well, get dressed," Drew begins, wrenching her eyes away from Maya and trying to compose herself, "we're going out in a little bit."

With that, Drew left her room, leaving Maya alone.

Things were definitely different compared to how they used to be.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Nico had stopped seeing Leonard. He was still receiving gifts from the man but now, Nico had resumed texting and calling him. Leonard had asked Nico on another date on his yacht, something Nico had been able to avoid but this time, he insisted that Nico meet him tonight. Nico's usual excuse that Percy was watching him carefully hadn't worked, Leonard flicked away the excuse as easily as flicking away a fly.

Leonard told Nico that he needed to see him or he didn't know what he'd do. It was going to be their first date held at night. Before the confrontation with Percy, Leonard and Nico only had dates in the afternoon or earlier, Nico having made-up the lie that Percy would usually come home around 9 from work so that he was never alone with Leonard at night. But Leonard was becoming bold, calling Nico when he knew Percy was around and now, wanting to have a date at night.

Percy, for his part, played his role easily although Nico was starting to notice that the jealousy wasn't completely an act.

Leonard would call during the times when Nico would be working on the painting with Maya, and help from Percy, who would fetch them food or supplies when they needed it. Nico hadn't forgotten the disdain clear on Percy's face once he saw who it was. Another time Leonard had interrupted them was when Percy and Nico had been on another one of their dates. Okay, maybe it hadn't been exactly a date but Nico refused to call it anything other than that. Not when Percy had clearly put in a lot of effort into them and when Leonard would interrupt, Percy would get pissed.

Nico reread the text from him that said to be ready tonight by 8 pm, but he had yet to reply. Sitting on Percy's bed, he decided to let the rest of the Lotus know what Leonard wanted, so he got up and made his way to the living room, where everyone was there lounging and hanging out. Nico figured they had avoided Leonard enough, it was time to get the con back on track and get those codes.

"Hey guys," Nico begins as soon as he enters the room, "I just got a text from Leonard...he says he wants to go on another date out on his yacht."

"That's great news," Annabeth says, but she can read Nico like an open book, she knows there's more that he's not saying. "I believe it's been a nice break from him long enough, time to get things in motion again."

"Yeah, the only thing is that it's tonight that he wants the date to take place," Nico finishes, glancing Percy's way.

Percy's face is expertly schooled, but there's no denying the dark look in his eyes at the mention of the date taking place at night. There's the slightest tightening of his jaw as he stares back at Nico.

"Really?" Annabeth questions, "how bold of him."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Percy shakes his head, looking away from Nico.

"Maybe it is," Grover begins, "I just designed this new gadget that just might work in helping me cracking through Leonard's security."

Grover pulls out of his pocket a sleek, small little black remote with a single button in the middle, showing it to the rest of the Lotus.

"What's it do?" Leo asks, taking it off from Grover's hands to study the device.

"It'll disrupt Leonard's signal, giving me a way inside without alerting his system that someone is trying to hack into it," Grover explains. "Nico, all you have to do is press the button before entering the yacht, you have to be close enough but not too close that the little shield Leonard has around his boat will kill it as soon as you step foot inside."

"So you're saying I'd have to turn it on when we're approaching his yacht?" Nico asks.

"Yeah, or have it on throughout the car ride there, that way once it's within reach, I'll be able to hack in before you get inside."

"Have you tested it out yet?" Annabeth asks.

"I did, I visited Leonard's building and hacked my way inside without anyone finding out," Grover smirks proudly. "I did it a being a couple of hundred feet away from his building."

"My man!" Leo high-fives him, "if Nico goes on his date with Leonard tonight with this on him, Grover gets inside his security system, his files-"

"We'll be able to get his schedule and information on the people who usually work for him in his personal life-" Drew interrupts, coming to the same conclusion as Leo.

"We could also get more information on all of his other assets too," Annabeth begins, "this is amazing Grover, I knew you would have a breakthrough."

"I think it's a splendid idea, Nico acting as the Trojan Horse breaking through Leonard's security with Grover's little gadget," Drew says jokingly.

"Yeah, maybe if you play your cards right, you could end up gaining Leonard's trust," Maya says.

"How do you plan on getting that man's trust?" Leo questions, "he's like a Jeff Bozos wannabe with an ego the size of the sun."

"It's Bezos," Reyna corrects.

"That's what I said, Bozos," Leo says, "I doubt anyone has that man's trust, he only trusts himself and that's for trues."

"For what?" Grover asks, looking over at Leo with a confused expression.

"For trues," Leo shrugs.

"I think I have an idea-" Drew begins.

"That doesn't sound for trues," Leo interrupts, earning him a flick to his ear by Reyna.

"What if we make Leonard think that he's won?" Drew continues, looking over at Nico.

"What do you mean?" Nico asks.

"I mean, tell him that you love him," Drew says and Percy's head whips around to look at Nico.

They make brief eye contact before Nico turns to Drew, "if we make Leonard think I've fallen in love with him, it just might be enough for him to give me the codes."

"Play it up, say you'll leave Percy for him, and with that, it should be easy getting him to trust you," Drew smirks at him.

"It's a good plan, Drew," Nico smiles at her.

"It absolutely is not," Percy says, bringing the attention to himself. "The idea is to _steal_ from Leonard, not _give_ him anything."

"I'm not really going to be giving anything to him at all. It's all going to be fake, it's not going to mean anything when I tell him I love him," Nico shrugs, but Percy flinches slightly when he mentions the word love.

There's a gleam in Percy's eyes, "where's your list for Leonard, then?" His voice is light but there's a bite to his words.

"I'm a big boy, Percy, I can handle myself," Nico says, opting to ignore the callout.

"So you don't have one then?" Percy continues, trying to bait Nico into answering.

"I don't need one for Leonard, I don't do anything with him," Nico replies, narrowing his eyes at Percy.

"You needed a list for me but not for him?" Percy spits out, the lightness to his voice gone, and the whole room grows quiet as they watch the exchange happening in front of them. Looking back and forth at Percy and Nico as if it were a tennis match.

"Leonard didn't need one," Nico answers back, annoyance seeping through.

"He can buy you whatever he wants, take you out on all these fancy dinners, spend as much time with you as possible and he doesn't need one?" Percy's voice is tight, bordering onto bitter, "he doesn't deserve to so much as _touch_ your hand, let alone be near you."

"Well I want the codes and the fingerprints, and Leonard has the key to both, so it looks like I'm going to need to spend as much time as I have to, to get them," Nico crosses his arms in front of his chest defensively.

Percy scoffs, leaning back in his seat on the couch, looking away in disgust.

"No, as your husband, I say no, I won't let you do this," Percy fumes, shaking his head.

Nico shoots to his feet as Maya and Leo let out a chorus of "whoa!" looking Percy's way in confusion. The whole room is tense and Annabeth is looking at them both, her calculating gaze burning a hole between them.

"You are _not_ my husband and even if you were, you don't get to dictate what I can or can't do. I'm not _asking_ for permission, I am _telling_ you that I'm doing this whether you like it or not," Nico glares Percy's way, who matches it with one of his own. "Don't you want your con to work?"

Percy stands to his feet too, looking at Nico straight in the eyes, "of course I do, but not when it means you have to do this!"

"What is the problem here?!"

"The problem is-"

"Percy," Annabeth's voice slices through the shouting match, her tone calm but firm. She levels Percy with a look that leaves no room for arguments, "take a walk."

Percy turns to look at her, eyes flooding not with anger but with something that's closer to betrayal. Annabeth meets his eyes, not backing down from the forced suggestion. Whatever silent exchange passes between them is enough for Percy to grab his jacket and leave the penthouse without another word.

_What is he so upset about? Everything is going according to plan!_

But through his thoughts, something else sticks out to him, could it be that the reason Percy was so upset is that just maybe...he was jealous?

"Well, we can't discuss our con without our conman," Annabeth begins, addressing everyone still in the living room. "Everyone can go."

Nobody needs to be told twice, and in a flash, they flee the tension and awkwardness still prominent in the room. Maya squeezes Nico's shoulder on her way out comfortingly, giving him a look that says he can come by later to talk with her if he needs to. Right as Nico begins to move towards the hall, Annabeth glances his way.

"Not you Nico," she says, "we still have to talk strategy."

She levels him with an intense stare, almost as if she could read the thoughts Nico was thinking in that very minute.

"This is not a difficult problem, it does not have a difficult answer," she begins.

A part of Nico feels like the kid in class who got in trouble with the teacher and got asked to stay behind. Annabeth could be really intimidating when she wanted to be.

"If you truly loved a man with such deeply-rooted trust issues, the only way to gain his confidence would be to give him a _reason_ to trust you," the blonde continues. Maybe it's Nico's imagination but something tells him this conversation feels like it's less about Leonard and more about Percy.

"Something real, something he's not used to receiving in his line of work," Annabeth says.

"Like what?"

"Tell him how you really feel- - and _mean_ it," Annabeth explains, staring straight at Nico. "Because he'll be looking for a lie, and he'll need the reassurance that it isn't."

Nico swallows hard, "we're uh, we're still talking about Leonard, right?"

Annabeth smirks, "who else would we be talking about?"

With that, she leaves Nico alone with new plaguing thoughts.

* * *

Despite the delicious food and the beautiful view of the city, Nico can't help but feel off, distracted. And it was not the time for being off his game, tonight was important, Nico couldn't screw this up.

After his talk with Annabeth, Nico decided to get ready for his date with Leonard tonight. Percy didn't return back to the penthouse and even though Nico had decided to focus on tonight, he couldn't help feel a little bit hopeful that it was Percy whenever the door to the penthouse opened; only for that hope to come crashing when it wasn't. Leonard had come to pick Nico up himself and drove them to the marina where his yacht was anchored.

Nico had tried to pay attention to the conversation at hand but his mind kept wandering back to Percy and their fight. He didn't understand why Percy thought that anything was happening between him and Leonard, except for when it came to the con. And he didn't know what to do.

Nico was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that Leonard had stopped talking and was staring at Nico in puzzlement.

"Is everything okay Nico? You look distracted and maybe a little worried."

_He doesn't know how right he is._

Nico shakes his head, trying for a smile but it comes out more like a grimace.

"I can see that something is bothering you, please, tell me what's wrong."

_Maybe I can use this to my advantage...sometimes the best lies are the ones that hold a hint of the truth._

"Something- - is distracting me tonight," Nico begins, glancing up at Leonard before shyly looking away.

"Is it Percy again?"

"It involves him in a way..." Nico purposely hesitates, capturing Leonard's attention. "See, I'm thinking about asking Percy for a divorce..." He lets the rest of his sentence hang in the air before sneaking a peek at Leonard.

Despite the fact that he's kind of a sleazeball, Leonard tries his best to keep his expression neutral but there's a ghost of a smile threatening to break free and his eyes are alight with triumph.

_He thinks he's won._

"Why the sudden decision?"

"I found Percy and me to be...incompatible."

"Is it just incompatibility or something else."

"Well," Nico's cheeks flush, "more like someone else."

_This isn't a lie. There is someone I'm thinking about but Leonard doesn't need to know who it is._

"Nico, what are you trying to tell me?"

"There's someone who I just can't get out of my mind..."

_From the very first time, I looked into his beautiful green eyes and got the feeling of being pulled deep beneath the sea if I stare too long. I've known since then that I'd never forget those eyes of his, I'd gladly drown in them if I could._

"Someone who's smart and smooth," Nico continues, "but very kind and endearing, someone who's...surprisingly sweet." The memory of Percy pressing into Nico's hands the humble bouquet, wishing for Nico's happiness crosses his mind in a flash.

_I can point out Percy's particular smell in a crowded room with my eyes closed. He smells like sandalwood and his favorite cologne...and just the slightest hint of sea breeze._

"Someone I've come to find...I love," Nico's voice catches as he mutters the last, truthful word, knowing that this was the most honest Nico's ever been with Leonard.

_I can make out the boy he used to be, the one who used to hide in the garden just to feel safe in a world that's been so cruel to him._

"Leonard," Nico begins shakily, "I've fallen in love with you." He looks up to see a smug smile on Leonard's face but pushes away the disgust climbing up his throat. "Please, all I can hope for is that you know just how much I care about you. I don't want your money, I don't care about the things you have, I just love you." And the only person that Nico can see is Percy, smiling his real smile at him.

_I love Percy and I want to tell him, I want him to know how I feel about him._

Leonard exhales sharply, the winning gleam in his eyes growing, "Nico," he grabs his hands, bringing Nico closer. "I will never do anything to hurt you."

"Do you promise?" Nico asks, voice soft.

"Of course," Leonard kisses the top of Nico's head, "I promise, and to show you that I trust you, I want you to come with me."

Leonard stands up, dragging Nico below deck and straight to his room, with Nico panicking because he didn't think telling Leonard that he loved him would lead to sex. Before Nico could make any objections, Leonard pressed a button on his keypad and turned to Nico.

"I want you to have the codes to my bedroom here, that way, in case things go sideways with Percy you have somewhere safe to stay. Hold out your thumb," Leonard instructs Nico, "I want the scanner to scan your fingerprints as well. That way you have complete access to my yacht."

"Leonard, are you sure?"

"Nico you just told me you love me, now this is me putting my faith in you. Please, Nico, let me show you just how important you are to me."

He gives Leonard a shy smile as he steps closer to the scanner and lets it scan his thumb and index finger on the keypad. Right before he can step away, Leonard hands him a piece of paper with the codes written on it.

"I want you to know that you've made me the happiest man in the world," Leonard says, bringing Nico in for a hug and kissing the top of his head.

* * *

Nico feels like he's walking on air as he opens the door to the penthouse. He had sent out a mass group text to the Lotus letting them know he had gotten the codes and the fingerprints. Nico's good mood only amplifies when he sees Percy sitting on the couch.

"Hey, we did it! We can take the composition from Leonard now!" Nico says, his body practically vibrating with energy. "But I have something more important to tell you," Nico continues before inhaling a deep, calming breath trying to settle his nerves. "I need you to know exactly how I-"

"How did you get Leonard to give you complete access?" Percy interrupts, his eyes on Nico.

Nico falters, the wind in his sails knocked out of him faster than the time he told his parents he was going to major in art.

_So much for my love confession..._

"I did everything we planned," he answers, watching Percy carefully.

"Everything," Percy repeats, not as a question, and it seems like he's saying it more to himself than anything.

"Yeah, pretending my husband doesn't trust me, using a little of Drew's advice and I even got Leonard to think I'm divorcing you," Nico tries for a joke, trying to lighten the mood but Percy flinches at the last part.

"Divorcing me?" Percy echoes, swallowing hard.

"It was a lie."

"How much of Drew's advice did you use?" Percy asks, his voice is light, casual but there's a slight edge to his words and Nico's mind goes back to their fight from before.

"Exactly as much as I wanted to use, as much as I was comfortable doing. I hinted about the future and my feelings a lot, I told Leonard I loved him to get him to trust me and it worked. We got the codes, he let me scan my fingerprints on his yacht, we have complete access to it now," Nico finishes, smiling at Percy.

"Did he kiss you?" Percy asks, his eyes are on Nico but his mind is far, far away.

"What?" Nico asks, trying to see where Percy was going with this. "Why do you want to know?"

"So I can figure out how to go from here."

That's not an answer, at least one Nico is satisfied with.

"No, he didn't."

Percy stares across Nico's face searching for something but Nico doesn't know what or understand where this is all coming from. Whatever Percy finds is something that makes his face fall, looking completely devastated, before he expertly places a mask over his face.

"I didn't think you'd pick it up so quick," he mutters, standing up from the couch. "I didn't expect you to be able to lie so well."

"What?"

Percy doesn't give him an answer, choosing instead to pace back and forth in front of the windows.

"I'm not lying," Nico says, trying to get an answer out of him.

"It doesn't make sense," Percy mutters, shaking his head, confusion clearly written all over from the downturn of his mouth to the slant of his eyebrows. "Who could resist kissing you after learning you loved them? They would be the happiest man in the world, they wouldn't be able to not give you a kiss just to show you how much they love you back."

He turned to look at Nico, who was speechless as Percy stopped his pacing, "he kissed you. I know he did because only a heartless person wouldn't after finding that out. So he kissed you, held you against his body so tight, never wanting to let you go," Percy says longingly. "He promised you the world, the moon, and the stars, things he can't deliver on but promises them anyway because you deserve that and _so_ much more."

"Percy-"

"How could he not?" And the yearning in Percy's eyes burns Nico thoroughly.

"Percy, none of that happened."

_Why is this so clearly thought out? Has he been thinking about this the whole day?_

Percy turns around to look out the windows, "was it better?"

"Was what better?"

"Was it better than _our_ kissing." Nico stares hard at him while Percy continues, "if it was, I just want to know...professionally speaking."

Percy's voice is calm but there's a slight tremble to his words as he gives his back to Nico and _that_ \- - is more telling.

_Percy can lie to anyone's face with a wink and a smile but right now he won't even look at me._

Their fight from earlier is starting to make sense to Nico. He can see Percy toying with his necklace frantically while he tries to make himself seem more composed than he feels. Nico sees Percy toss what looks like a silver coin up before catching it, probably to give his hands something to do.

"Percy, are you jealous?"

Percy stops all of his movements, the coin doesn't come back up, and he stops toying with his necklace. Opting instead to glance back at Nico with a far-away look, the same one he had when he talked about his past that night in the bakery.

"I-" but whatever he was going to say next gets cut off when the door flings open and the rest of the Lotus walks in, Leo bursting with infectious energy.

"He did it!" Leo exclaims, "the absolute madman!" Then he grabs Nico and spins him around the room before planting Nico on his feet with a wet kiss to his cheek.

"Gross!" Nico yells, wiping the kiss with the back of his hand and shoving Leo away.

"You say that now but if I had my way-" Leo begins.

"And thank whatever God is up there that you didn't," Annabeth cuts him off and then smirks when she sees him pout.

Percy already has a mask over his face and whatever else was happening between them, the moment is gone and Nico doesn't know if they'll ever get it back. Enough for Percy to be completely honest about what they both knew was going on with them. So Nico jokes and he laughs with the rest of the Lotus, but his mind is still on the conversation he had with Percy.

While everyone else was too busy celebrating, Annabeth was the only one to notice how strange Percy was acting, he wore his mask well but Annabeth sometimes knew Percy better than he knew himself. She kept eyeing Nico as well, making him sweat with the knowledge that she could read him if she really wanted to but was choosing not to.

_Of course, she'd be able to tell that something was wrong between me and Percy._

Nico could swear he felt another set eyes on him that most definitely did not belong to the blonde, Annabeth's stare was unrelenting. It wasn't hard for Nico to guess who they belonged to, but whenever Nico turned to meet Percy's eyes, he would look away.

"So, are you ready to finish adding the final details to the painting?" Maya asks, breaking Nico out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, I actually can't believe how fast we got it done, well, almost," Nico replies.

"Well, these two weeks you didn't see Leonard left you with a lot of free time," Maya teases lightly, but Nico only hums in response. "You okay? I feel like you're mind's somewhere else," she looks Nico over. Before Nico can give her an answer, Annabeth clears her throat, and the rest of the Lotus quiet down and turn to her.

"Our plans here in Paris are slowly coming together, the forgery is close to being done and we need one more final push before we strike on Leonard. For now, we toast to Nico, for a job well done," Annabeth raises her glass to him, with the rest following suit.

Despite whatever was happening between them, Percy raises his glass to Nico as well, and Nico doesn't know if the lights are playing a trick on his eyes but some part of him swears there's a proudful look on Percy's face. But then that pride grows and it's hard to miss, and Nico thinks that maybe they might just get a second chance to talk things out. It's the optimistic part of Nico that he can't seem to help sometimes.

But it keeps him going the rest of the night, holding onto that hope, wishing more than anything that he could have heard what Percy was going to say next.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Just one more thing to note, this story is going to be part of a series! So it's going to be on-going even after this first work ends!


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